


UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 


LIBRARY 
Class Book Volume 
RO4 ARS 


Je 07-10M 














THE SOLEMN 


WARNINGS OF THE DEAD: 


OR, 
AN ADMONITION 
TO UNCONVERTED SINNERS. 


BY MR. JOSEPH ALLEINE. 


AND 
A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


BY MR. RICHARD BAXTER. 


He being dead vet speaketh, Hebrews xi, 4. 


——_— 


New-Dork : 


PUBLISHED BY LANE & SCOTT, 


FOR THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
= CHURCH, 200 MULBERRY-STREET. 


JOSEPH LONGKING, PRINTER. 
1849, ‘ 


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CONTENTS 


OF MR. ALLEINE’S ADMONITION. 





An earnest invitation to sinners to return to God in or- 


der to their eternal salvation, . ‘ ‘ 7 
CHAPTER I. | 
Showing in the negative what conversion is not, and 
correcting some mistakes about it, : : 11 
CHAPTER II. 
Showing positively what conversionis, . . . 18 
CHAPTER III. 
Of the necessity of conversion, ieee, AS 


> 


CHAPTER IV. 


Showing the marks ofthe unconverted, . . . 74 
CHAPTER V. 
Showing the miseries of the unconverted, i ye MZ 
CIUAPTER VI. 
Directions for conversion, ae | a ae . iN7 
CHAPTER VII. 
The motives to conversion, 5 : : . . 138 


The conclusion of the whole, . F : ‘ eee 


The author’s counsel for personal and family godliness, 165 


93008 


AN ADMONITION 
: TO 
UNCONVERTED SINNERS; 
Ina Serious Treatise. 


SHOWETH, 


I. What conversion is not,| IV. The marks of the uncon- 

and correcting some mistakes/verted. 

about it. V. The miseries of the uncon- 
If. What conversion is, and|verted. 

wherein it consisteth. VI. Directions for conver- 
III. The necessity of conver-jsion. 

sion. VII. Motives for conversion. 


BY JOSEPH ALLEINE, 


LATE MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT TAUNTON, 
IN SOMERSETSHIRE. 


TO THE READER. 


——— 


READER,—You are here presented with a book which 
was written many years before the name of Methodism 
was known in the world ; which it may be proper to re- 
mind you of, in order to remove any unreasonable prejudice 
arising from that quarter. What I would recommend to 
you is, to read it with attention, examination, and prayer, 
as the most effectual method you can take to render it a 
blessing to your own soul. The author seems to have 
made use of every possible argument to win upon your in- 
genuity, to awaken conscience, and to direct you in the way 
everlasting. 

I charge you, as in the presence of the living God, now 
to do your part, and give it a faithful reading: I beg of you, 
by every endearing motive of love and affection to your 
precious and immortal soul, that you will look upon this 
book as calculated to promote your present and everlasting 
happiness ; and I beg of God that he would be pleased so 
to accompany your reading of it with his Divine and hea- 
venly grace, as to afford you matter of thanksgiving, grati- 
tude, and praise, to his holy name for ever and ever. 

Man, by nature and practice, is a sinner before God; a 
charge of guilt is fastened upon him ; this, in words, he rea- 
dily acknowledges ; but being blinded with prejudice, and 
having wrong conceptions both of the nature of God and 
sin, he flatters himself that all will be well at last, and that 
a merciful God will not finally condemn him ; this lulls him 
asleep in Satan’s arms, and makes him secure and easy un- 
der all the denunciations of God’s wrath against him. 


6 TO THE READER. 


One grand design of the author in this book is, to dispel 
that gross darkness, to rectify those false conceptions he has 
of God and sin,-and to convince him that notwithstanding 
all his vain pretensions, without true repentance the sen 
tence of wrath stands in full force against him still. 

Jesus Christ is set forth in Scripture as the Saviour of sin- 
ners, the helper of the helpless; the only sure bottom upon 
which man is to anchor the hope of eternal salvation. To 
this Lord and Saviour is the awakened sinner directed in 
this book: a free and a full salvation is offered him, under 
every possible assurance, that if he closes with it his sins 
shall be pardoned, his person and future services accepted ‘ 
and, from being a brand of hell, he shall become an heir of 
glory. 

Reader, the former character either is or has been thine 
own: ifit is thine at this present reading, remember thy 
danger; take the alarm, and flee from the wrath to come. 
If it has been thine formerly, and thou art truly converted 
to God by Jesus Christ, give him all the glory, rejoice in the 
happy change, walk worthy of thy high calling, and thou 
art made for ever. 

Thy ready servant in the LORD. 


iaa 
AN ADMONITION 
TO UNCONVERTED SINNERS. 





An earnest invitation to sinners to return to God, 
in order to their eternal salvation. 


Dearty beloved and longed-for, I gladly 
acknowledge myself a debtor to you all, and am 
concerned, as I would be found a good steward 
to the household of God, to give to every one 
his portion; but the physician is most solicit- 
ous for those patients whose case is most doubt- 
ful and hazardous; and the father’s bowels are 
especially turned toward hisdying child. The 
number of unconverted souls among you call 
for my most earnest compassion and hasty dili- 
gence to pluck them out of the burning, Jude 
23. And therefore to these first I shall apply 
myself in these lines. 

But whence shall I fetch my argument? or 
how shall I choose my words ? Lord, wherewith 
shall I woo them? wherewith shall I win them? 
O that I could but tell! I would write unto them 
in tears, I would weep out every argument, I 
would empty my veins for ink, I would petition 
them on my knees, verily (were I able) I would : 
O how thankful would I be if they would be 
prevailed with to repent and turn! 

‘‘ But, Lord, how insufficient am I for this 
work : I have been many a year wooing for thee, 
but the damsel would not go with me: Lord, 


8 AN INVITATION TO SINNERS. 


what a task hast thou set for me to do! Alas! 
wherewith shall I pierce the scales of leviathan, 
or make the’ heart to feel that’s hard as stone, 
hard as a piece of nether millstone! Shall I go 
and lay my mouth to the grave, and look when 
the dead will obey me and come forth? Shall I 
make an oration to the rocks, or declaim to the 
mountains, and think to move them with argu- 
ments ? Shall I give the blind to see? From the 
beginning of the world was it not heard that a 
man opened the eyes of the blind; but thou, O 
Lord, canst pierce the scales and prick the 
heart of the sinner. I can but shoot at rovers, 
and draw the bow at a venture, but do thou di- 
rect. the arrow between the joints of the harness, 
kill the sin, and save the soul of a sinner that 
casts his eyes on these labours.” 

Brethren, I beseech you suffer friendly plain. 
ness and freedom with you in your deepest con. 
cernments. I am not playing the orator, to 
make a learned speech to you, nor dressing my 
dish with eloquence wherewith to please you; 
these lines are upon a weighty errand indeed, 
namely, to convince, and convert, and to save 
you. Iam not baiting my hook with rhetoric, 
nor fishing for your applause, but for your souls. 
My work is not to please you, but to save you ; 
nor is my business with your fancies, but your 
hearts : if I have not your hearts [ have nothing. 
If I were to please your ears I could sing ano- 
ther song ; if I were to preach myself I would 
steer another course; I would then tell you a 
smoother tale ; I would make you pillows, and 


TO RETURN TO GOD. 9g 


speak you peace; for how can Ahab love his 
Micaiah, that “ always prophesies evil concern- 
ing him?’ 1 Kings xxii, 8. But how much 
‘‘ better are the wounds of a friend than the fair 
speeches of a harlot, who flattereth with her lips 
till the dart strike through the liver, and hunteth 
for the precious life ?” Prov. vii, 21-23, and vi, 
16. If I were to quiet a crying infant, I might 
sing to him a pleasant song, and rock him 
asleep ! but when the child is fallen into the 
fire the parent takes another course, he will not 
go to still him with a song or a trifle. [ know, 
if we speed not with you, you are lost; if we 
cannot get your consent to “arise and come 
away, you perish for ever : no conversion and 
no salvation : I must get your good will, or leave 
you miserable. 

But here the difficulty of my work again re- 
curs upon me, “ Lord, choose my stones out of 
the brook,’ 1 Sam. xvii, 40,45. “I come in 
the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the 
armies of Israel.”’ I come forth like the strip- 
ling David to wrestle, “ not with flesh and blood, 
but with principalities and powers, and rulers 
of the darkness of this world,” Eph. vi, 12,— 
“ This day let the Lord smite the Philistines, and 
spoil the strong man of his armour, and give me 
to fetch off the captives out of his hand.”’ Lord, 
choose my words, choose my weapons for me 3 
and when I put my hand into the bag, and take 
thence a stone and sling it, do thou carry it to 
the mark and make it sink, not into the fore- 
head, 1 Sam. xvii, 49, but the heart of the un- 


10 AN INVITATION TO SINNERS. 


converted sinner, and smite him to the ground, 
with Saul in his so happy fall, Acts ix, 5. Thou 
has sent me as Abraham did his servant, “ to 
take a wife unto my Master, thy Son,” Gen. 
xxiv, 4, but my discouraged soul is ready to 
fear the woman will not be willing to follow me ; 
“O Lord God of my Master, I pray thee send 
me good speed this day, and show kindness to 
my Master, and send thine angel before, and 
prosper my way, that I may take a wife unto 
thy Son,” Gen. xxiv, 12, that as thy servant 
“rested not till he had brought Isaac and Re- 
bekah together, so I may be successful to bring 
Cunrisr and the souls of my people together 
before we part.” 

But I turn me unto you. Some of you do 
not kaow what I mean by conversion, and in 
vain shall I persuade you to that which you do 
not understand ; and therefore for your sakes I 
shall show what this conversion is. Others do 
cherish secret hopes of mercy, though they con- 
tinue as they are; and for them I must show the 
necessity of conversion. Others are like to har- 
den themselves with a vain conceit that they are 
converted already ; unto them I must show the 
marks of the unconverted. Others, because they 
feel no harm, fear none, and so sleep on the top 
of the mast ; to them I shall show the miseries 
of the unconverted. Others sit still, because 
they see not their way out ; to them I shall show 
the means of conversion. And finally, for the 
quickening of all I shall close with the motives 
of conversion. 


MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 11 


CHAPTER I. 


Showing in the negative what conversion is not, 
and correcting some mistakes about tt. 


Ler the blind Samaritans worship they know 
not what, John iv, 22; let the heathen Atheni- 
ans superscribe their altar, “‘ Unto the unknown 
God,” Acts xvii, 23; they that know man’s 
constitution, and the nature of the human soul’s 
operation, cannot but know that the understand- 
ing having the empire in the soul, he that will 
go rationally to work, must labour to let in the 
light here. Now, that I may cure the mistakes 
of some,who think they are converted when they 
are not, as well as remove the troubles and fears 
of others, that think they are not converted when 
they are; I shall show you the nature of con- 
version, both negatively, or what it is not ; and 
positively, what it is. 

We will begin with the negative. 

1. “It is not the taking upon us the profes- 
sion of Christianity.” Doubtless Christianity 
is more than a name. If we will hear Paul, it 
lies not in word, but.in power, 1 Cor. iv, 20.— 
If to cease to be Jews and pagans, and to put 
on the Christian profession had been true con- 
version, who better Christians than they of 
Sardis and Laodicea? ‘These were all Chris- 
tians by profession, and had a name to live ; 
but because they had but a name, are con- 
demned by Christ, and threatened to be spewed 
out, Rey. iii, 1-16. Are there not many that 


12 MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 


mention the name of the Lord Jesus, and yet 
depart not from iniquity ? 2 Tim. ii, 19, and 
“profess they know God, but in works they 
deny him!” Titus i, 16. . And will God receive 
these for true converts, because turned to the 
Christian religion? What! converts from sin, 
when yet they do live insin? it isa visible con- 
tradiction. Surely if the lamp of profession 
would have served the turn, the foolish virgins 
had never been shut out, Matt. xxy, 12. We 
find not only professors, but professors of Christ, 
and wonder workers, turned off because evil 
workers, Matt. vii, 22, 23. 

2. “It is not the being washed in the laver of 
regeneration, or putting on the badge of Christ 
in baptism.” Many take the press money, and 
even wear the livery of Christ, that yet never 
stand to their colours, nor follow their leader. 
Ananias, and Sapphira, and Magus, were bap- 
tized as well as the rest. 

Friends and brethren, “ Be not deceived, God 
is not mocked,” Gal. vi, 7. Whether it be your 
baptism, or whatever else that you pretend, I 
tell you from the living God, that if any of you 
be prayerless persons, or unclean, or malicious, 
or covetous, or riotous, or a scoffer, or a lover 
of evil company, Prov. xiii, 20; in a word, If 
you are not holy, strict, and self-denying Chris- 
tians, Heb. xii, 14; Matt. xvi, 24, you cannot 
be saved, except you be. transformed by a far- 
ther work upon you, and renewed again by re- 
pentance. 

3. “It lies not in a moral righteousness.” 


MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION, 13 


This exceeds not the righteousness of the 
scribes and Pharisees, and therefore cannot 
bring us to the kingdom of God, Matt. v, 20. 
Paul, while unconverted, “ touching the righte- 
ousness which is in the law, was_ blameless,” 
Phil. iii, 6. None could say, “ Black is thine 
eye.” Theself justiciary could say, “I am no 
extortioner, adulterer, unjust,” &c. Luke xviii, 
11. Thou must have something more than all 
this to show, or else, however thou mayest justify 
thyself, God will condemn thee. I condemn not 
morality, but warn you not to rest here: piety 
includes morality,as Christianity doth humanity, 
and grace reason; but we must not divide the 
tables. 

4. “It consists not in an eternal conformity 
to the rules of piety.” - It is too manifest, men 
may have a form of godliness without the power, 
2 Tim. i1i,5. Men may pray long, Matt. xxii, 
14, and fast often, Luke xviil, 12, and hear 
gladly, Mark vi, 2, and be very forward in the 
service of God, though. costly and expensive, 
Isa. i, 11, and yet be strangers to conversion. 
They must have more to plead for- themselves, 
than that they keep to their Church, give alms, 
and make use of prayer, to prove themselves 
sound converts. No outward service but a 
hypocrite may do it, even to the “ giving all his 
goods to feed the poor, and: his members to the 
fire,” 1 Cor. xiii, 3. 

0. “It lies not in the chaining up of corrup- 
tion, by education, human laws, or the force of 
incumbent affliction.” . It is too common and 


14 MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 


easy to mistake education for grace ; but if this 
were enough, who a better man than Jehoash? 
While Jehoiada his uncle lived, he was very for- 
ward in God’s service, and calls upon him to 
repair the house of the Lord, 2 Kings xii, 2, 7 ; 
but here was nothing more than good education 
all this while: for when his good tutor was taken 
out of the way, he appears to have been but a 
wolf chained up, and falls to idolatry. 

6. In short, “it consists not in illumination 
or conviction, not in a superficial change or 
partial reformation.” Felix may tremble under 
conviction, Acts xxiv, 25, and a Herod amend 
many things, Mark vi, 20.. It is one thing to 
have sin alarmed only by convictions, and 
another to be captivated and crucified by con- 
verting grace. Many, because they had been 
troubled in conscience for their sins, think well 
of their case, miserably mistaking coNVICTION 
for CONVERSION : with these Cain might have 
passed for a convert, who ran up and down the 
world like a man distracted, under the rage of 
a guilty conscience, till with building and 
business he had worn it away, Gen. iv. 13,.14. 
Others think, that because they have given over 
their riotous courses, and are broken off from 
evil company, or some particular lust, and 
reduced to sobriety and civility, they are now 
no other than real converts; forgetting that 
there is a vast difference between being sanc- 
tified and civilized: and that “ many -seek to 
enter into the kingdom. of heaven, Luke xiii, 
24, and are not far from it,” Mark xii, 34, and 


MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 15 


arrived to the almost of Christianity, Acts xxvi, 
28, and yet fall short at last. While conscience 
holds the whip over them, many will pray, hear, 
read, and forbear their delightful sins : but no 
sooner is the lion asleep, than they aré at their 
vomit again. Who more religious than the 
Jews, when God’s hand was upon them, Psalm 
Ixxviii, 34, 835; yet no sooner was the affliction 
over, but they forgot God, and showed their re- 
ligion to be a fit, verses 36, 37. Thou mayest 
have disgorged a troublesome sin, that will not 
sit easy on thy stomach,and yet not have changed 
thy swinish nature all the while. 

You may cast the Jead out of the rude mass 
into the more comely proportion of a plant, and 
then into the shape of a beast, and thence into 
the form and features of a man, yet all the while 
it is but lead still: so a man may pass through 
divers transmutations, from ignorance to know- 
ledge, from profaneness to civility, thence to a 
form of religion ; and all this while he is but car- 
nal and unregenerate, while his nature remains 
unchanged. 

AprpiicaTtion.~ “ Hear then, O sinners, hear 
as you would live, so come and hear,” Isa. lv, 3. 
Why would youso willingly deceive yourselves, 
or build your hopes upon the sand? I know he 
shall find hard work of it that goes to pluck away 
‘your hopes: it cannot but be ungrateful to you, 
and truly it is not pleasing to me. I set about 
it as a surgeon when to cut off a putrified mem- 
ber from his well-beloved friend, which of force 
he must do, though with an aching heart, a _piti- 


16 MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 


ful eye and a trembling hand. But understand 
me, brethren, I am only taking down the ruin- 
ous house (which will otherwise speedily fall of 
itself, and bury you in the rubbish) that I may 
build it fair, firm, and strong for ever. “ The 
hope of the hypocrite shall perish,” Prov. xi, 7, 
if God be true to hisword. And hadst not thou 
better, O sinner, to let the word convince thee 
now in time, and let go thy false and self-de- 
luding hopes than have death too late:to open 
thine eyes, and find thyself in hell before thou 
art aware’? I should be a false and faithless 
shep herd, if I could not tell you, that you, who 
have built your hopes upon no better ground 
than these before mentioned, are yet in your 
sins. Let your conscience speak: what is it 
that you have to plead for yourselves? Is it 
that you bear Christ’s livery? that you bear his 
name ? that you are of the visible Church? that 
you have knowledge in the points of religion, 
are civilized, perform religious duties, are just 
in your dealings, have been troubled in con- 
science for your sins? I tell you from the Lord, 
these pleas will never be accepted at God’s bar ; 
all this, though good in itself, will not prove you 
converted, and so will not suffice to your salva- 
tion. O! look about you; and bethink your- 
selves of returning speedily and soundly. Set 
to praying, and to reading, and studying your 
own hearts: rest not till God hath made thorough 
work with you; for ye must iis other men, or 
else are lost men. 

But if these be short of conversion, what shall 


MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 17 


I say of the profane sinner? It may be, he will 
scarce cast his eye or lend his ear to this dis. 
course! but if there be any such reading, or 
within hearing, he must know from the Lord 
that made him, that he is far from the kingdom 
of God. May a man be civilized and not con- 
verted ; where then shall the drunkard and 
glutton appear? May a man keep company 
with the wise virgins, and yet be shut out ; shall 
not “a companion of .fools much more be de- 
stroyed ?” Prov. xili, 20. May a man be true 
and just in his dealings, and yet not be justified 
of God! What then will become of thee, O 
wretched man, whose conscience tells thee thou 
art false in thy trade, and false to thy word, and 
makest thy advantage by a lying tongue? If 
men may be enlightened and brought to the 
performance of holy duties, and yet go down to 
perdition for resting in them and sitting down 
on this side of conversion ; what will become 
of you, O miserable Facabieds that live without 
God in the world? and of you, O wretched 
sinners, with whom God is scarce in all your 
thoughts ; that are so ignorant that you cannot, 

r so careless that you will not pray ? O repent 
and be converted; “break off your sins by 
righteousness,” away to Christ for pardoning 
and renewing grace : give up yourselves to him, 
to walk with him in holiness; or else you shall 
never see God. O that you would take the 
warnings of God! In his nameI once more 
admonish you: “Turn you at my reproof,” 


Proy. i, 23.“ Forsake the foolish, and live,” 
9 


18 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


Proy. ix, 6. “Be sober, righteous, godly,” Titus 
li, 12. “ Wash your hands, ye sinners ; purify 
your hearts, ye double minded,” James iv, 8. 
* Cease to do evil, learn to do well,” Isa. i, 16, 
17. “ But if you will go on, you must die,”’ 
Ezek. xxxi, 11. 





CHAPTER II. 


Showing positwely what conversion is. 


I may not leave you with your eyes half open, 
as he “ thatsaw men as trees walking,” Mark viii, 
24. The word is “ profitable for doctrine as 
well as reproof,” 2 Tim. iii, 16. And therefore 
having thus far conducted you by the shoals and 
rocks of so many dangerous mistakes, I would 
guide you at length into the harbour of truth. 

Conversion then, in short, lies in the thorough 
change both of the heart and life : I shall briefly 
be age it in its nature and causes. 

1. “The author is the Spirit of God:” and 
therefore it is called “ the sanctification of the 
Spirit,” 2 Thess. ii, 13, and “the renewing of 
the Holy Ghost,” Tit. iii, 5, yet not excluding 
the other persons in the trinity ; for the apostle 
teacheth us to bless “the Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, for that he hath begotten us again,” 
1 Pet. i, 3, and Christ is said to give “ repent- 
ance unto Israel,’ Acts v, 31, and is called 
“the Everlasting Father,” Isaiah ix, 6, and we 
his seed, and “the children which God hath 


THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 19 


given him,” Heb. ii, 13 ; Isa. liu, 10. O blessed 
birth, the whole trinity fathers the new creature ; ; 
yet this work is principally ascribed to the Holy 
Ghost, and so we are said to be “ born of the 
Spirit,” John iii, 8 

So then it isa work above man’s power : 
“ We are born not of the will of the flesh, nor 
of the will of man, but of God,” John i, 18. 
Never think thou canst convert thyself: if ever 
thou wouldst be savingly converted, thou must 
despair of doing it in thy ownstrength. Itisa 
resurrection from the dead, Rev. xx, 5; Ephes. 
il, 1; a new creation, Gal. vi, 15; Eph. ii, 10; 
a work of absolute omnipotence, Ephes. i, 19. 
Are these out of the reach of human power ? If 
thou hast no more than thou hadst by thy first 
birth, a good nature, a meek and chaste temper, 
&c. thou art a very stranger to true conversion : 
this is a supernatural work. 

2. “The moving cause is internal and external. 
The internal mover is only free grace.” “ Not 
by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but of his own mercy he saved us, by the renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost,” Titus ii, 5. “ Of his 
own will begat he us,” Jamesi, 18. We are 
chosen and called unto sanctification, Eph. i, 4 

How affectionately doth Peter lift up his 
hand! “ Blessed be the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus, who of his abundant mercy hath 
begotten us again,” 1 Pet. i, 3. How feelingly 
doth Paul magnify the free mercy of God in it ! 
** God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love 
wherewith he loved us, hath quickened us toge- 


20 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


ther with Christ : by grace ye are saved,” Eph. 
ii, 4, 5. 

« The external mover is the merit and inter- 
cession of the blessed Jesus.” “ He hath ob- 
tained gifts for the rebellious,” Psalm Ixviil, 18, 
and through him it is that God worketh in us 
what is well pleasing in his sight, Heb. xiii, 21. 
Through him are-all spiritual blessings be- 
stowed upon us in heavenly things, Eph. 1, 3. 
He interceded for them that believed not, John 
xvii, 20. Every convert is the fruit of his travail, 
Isa. liii, 11. O never was infant born into the 
world with that difficulty that Christ endured for 
us ! how emphatically he groaned in his travail ! 
All the pains that he suffered on his cross, they 
were our birth pains, Acts li, 24, “ ordinas,” the 
pulls and throes, that Christ endured for us. He 
is made sanctification to us, 1 Cor. i, 30. He 
sanctified himself (that is, set apart himself as a 
sacrifice) that we may be sanetified, John xvii, 
19. We are sanctified “ through the offering 
of his body once for all,” Heb. x, 10. 

3. “ The instrument is either personal or 
real.” ‘The personal isthe ministry. “ I have 
begotten you in Christ through the .Gospel,” 
1 Cor. iv, 15. Christ’s ministers are they that 
are sent to open men’s eyes, and to turn them to 
God, Acts xxvi, 18. 

“The instrument real is the word.” We were 
begotten by the word of truth: this is it that 
enlightens the eye, that converteth the soul, 
Psalm xix, 7,8; that maketh wise to salvation, 
2 Tim. ili, 15. This is the incorruptible. seed 


THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 21 


by which we are born again, 1 Pet. 1,23. If we 
are washed itis by the word, Eph. v, 26. If 
we are sanctified it is through the truth, John 
xvii, 17. ‘This generates faith, and regenerates 
us, Rom. x, 17 ; James 1, 18. 

O ye saints, how should ye love the word ! 
for by this you have been converted. O ye sin- 
ners, how should ye ply the word! for by this 
you must be converted; no other ordinary 
means but this. You that have felt its renew- 
ing power, make much of it while you live, be 
for ever thankful for it ; tie it about your necks, 
write it upon your hands, lay itin your bosom, 
Proy. vi, 21,22. When you go let it lead you ; 
when you sleep let it keep you; when you 
wake let it talk with you. Say with holy David, 
‘1 will never forget thy precepts, for with them 
thou hast quickened me,” Psalm cxix, 938. Ye 
that are unconverted, read the word with dili- 
gence, flock to it where. powerfully preached, 
fill the porches as the multitude of the impo- 
tent, blind, halt, withered, waiting for the mov- 
ing of the water, John v,_3. Pray for the 
coming of the Spiritin the word. Come off thy 
knees to the sermon, and come to thy knees 
from the sermon. ‘The seed doth not prosper, 
because not watered ‘by prayers and tears, nor 
covered my meditation. 

4. “The final cause is man’s salvation, and 
God’s glory.” . We are chosen through sancti- 
fication to salvation, 2 Thess. ii, 13 ; called that 
we might be glorified, Rom. viii, 30 ; but espe- 
cially that God might be glorified, Isa. Ix, 21 ; 


22 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


that we should show forth his praise, 1 Pet. ii, 
9, and be fruitful in good works, Col. 1,10. O 
Christian ! do not forget the end of thy calling ; 
let thy light shine, Matt. v, 16, let thy lamp 
burn, let thy fruits be good, and many and in 
season, Psalm i, 3; let all thy designs fall in 
with God’s, that he may be magnified in thee, 
Phil. i, 10. 

5. “The subject is the true believer, and 
that in all his parts and powers, members and 
mind.” - Conversion is no repairing of the old 
building ; but it takes all down and erects a 
new structure. It is not the putting ina patch, 
or sewing ona list-of holiness: but, with the 
true convert, holiness is woven in all his 
powers, principles, and practice. The sincere 
Christian is quite a new fabric, from the found. 
ation to the top stone all new. He isa new 
man, Eph. iv, 24, a new creature. “ All things 
‘are become new, 2 Cor. v, 17. Conversion 
is a deep work, a heart work, Acts ii, 37, and 
vi, 14; it turns all upside down, and makes a 
man be in a new world. It goes throughout 
with men, throughout the mind, throughout the 
members, throughout the motions, of the whole 
life. 

1. “Throughout the mind.” It makes a 
universal change within. First, it turns the 
balance of the judgment, so that God and his 
glory do weigh down all carnal and worldly in- 
terest, Acts xx, 24; Phil. i, 20; Psa. Ixxiti, 25. 
It opens the eye of the mind, ‘and: makes ‘the 
scales of its native ignorance ‘to fall off, and 


THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 23 


sf ene men Sess darkness to light,” Acts xxvi, 

; Eph. iii, 8; 1 Pet. ii, 2. The man that 
ara saw no danger in his condition, now con- 
cludes himself lost, and for ever undone, Acts 
ii, 37, unless renewed by the power of grace. 
He that formerly thought there was little hurt 
in sin, now comes to see it to be the chief of 
evils: he sees the unreasonableness, the un- 
righteousness, the deformity and filthiness that 
is in sin, so that he is affrighted with it, loathes 
it, dreads it, flees it, and even abhors himself 
for it, Romans vii, 18; Job xlii, 6; Ezekiel 
XXXVl, 31. 

Now, according to this new light, the man is 
of another mind, another judgment, than before 
he was: now Gisdii is all with him, he hath none 
“ in heaven or in earth like him,” Psalm I xxiii, 
25. He prefers him truly before all the world ; 
his favour is his life, the light of his countenance 
is more than corn, or wine and oil, the good 
that formerly he inquired after, and set his heart 
upon, Psalm iv, 6,7. This is the convert’s 
voice ; “ The Lord is my portion, saith my soul ; 
whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is 
none upon earth that I desire beside thee. God 
is the strength of my heart and my portion for 
ever,” Psalm Ixxiii, 25, 26; Lam. iil, 24. 

Secondly, “ It turns the bias of the will, both 
as to means and end.” 1..“ The intentions of 
the will are altered,” Ezek. xxxvi, 26; Jer. 
xxvi, 33; Isa. xxvi, 8,9. Now the man hath 
new ends and designs: now he intends God 
above all, and desires and designs nothing in 


24 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


all the world so much as that Christ may be 
magnified in him, Phil. i, 20. . He counts him- 
self more happy in this than in all that the earth 
could yield, that he may be serviceable to Christ, 
and bring him glory in his generation. This is 
the mark he aims at, that the name of Jesus may 
be great in the world ; and that all the sheaves 
of his brethren may bow to his sheaf, Gen. 
XXXVI, 7. 

Reader, dost thou view this, and never ask 
thyself, whether it be thus with thee? Pause 
awhile, and breathe on this great concernment. 

2. “ The choice is also changed,” so that he 
chooseth another way, Psalm cxix, 15. He 
pitcheth upon God as his blessedness, and upon 
Christ as the principal, and holiness as the sub- 
ordinate means to bring him to God, John xiv, 
6; Rom. ii, 7. He chooseth Jesus for his Lord, 
Col. ii, 6. He is not merely forced into Christ 
by the storm, nor doth he take Christ for bare 
necessity ; but he deliberately. resolves that 
Christ is his.best choice, Phil. i, 2, 3, and. would 
rather have him to choose than all the good of 
this world, might he enjoy it while he would. 
Again, he takes holiness for his path: he doth 
not of mere necessity submit to it: but he likes 
and loves it. “Ihave chosen the way of thy 
precepts,” Psalm cxix, 173. He takes God’s 
testimonies, not as his bondage, but as his heri- 
tage, yea, heritage for ever, verse 111. He 
counts them not his burthen but his bliss: not 
his cords but his cordials, 1 John v, 3; Psalm 
exix, 14, 16,17. He doth not only bear, but 


THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 28 


takes up Christ’s yoke. He takes not holiness 
as the stomach doth the loathed potion, which 
it will down with rather than die, but as the 
hungry deth his beloved food. No time passes 
so sweetly with him as that he spends in the 
exercise of holiness ; these are both his aliment 
and element, the desire of his eyes and the joy 
of his heart, Job xxiii, 12 ; Psalm cxix, 82, 111, 
162, 174, and lxxiii, 5. Put thy conscience to 
it as thou goest, whether thou art the man: O 
happy man, if this be thy case! but see thou be 
thorough and impartial in the search. 

Thirdly, “ It turns the bent of his affection,” 
2 Cor. vil, 11. These run all ina new chan- 
nel: the Jordan is now driven back, and the 
water runs upward, against its natural course. 

Christ is his hope, 1 Tim.i,1; this is his 
prize, Phil. iii, 8 ; here his eye is, here his heart 
is. He is contented to cast all overboard (as 
the merchant in the storm ready. to perish) so he 
may but keep this jewel. - 

The first of his desires is not after gold, but 
grace, Phil. ii, 13. He hungers after it, he 
seeks it as silver, he digs for it as for a hid trea- 
sure : he had rather be gracious than be great ; 
he had rather be the holiest man on earth, than 
the most. learned, the most famous, the most 
prosperous. While carnal, he said, O if I were 
but in great esteem, and rolled in wealth and 
swimmed in pleasure; if my debts were paid, 
and Land mine provided for, then were Ia happy 
man. But now the tone ischanged. O! saith 
the convert, if I had but my corruptions subdued, 


26 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


if I had such measures of grace, such fellowship 
with God, though I were poor and despised, I 
should not care; I should account myself a 
blessed man. Reader, is this the language of 
thy soul? 

His joys are changed. He rejoiceth in the 
ways of God’s testimonies, as much as in all 
riches, Psalm cxix, 14. He “delights in the 
law of the Lord ;” he hath no such joy as in 
the thoughts of Christ, the fruition of his com- 
pany, the prosperity of his people. 

His cares are quite altered: he was once set 
for the world, and any scraps of by-time were 
enough for hissoul. Now “he gives over caring 
for the asses,” and sets his heart upon the king- 
dom: now all the cry is, “ What shall I do to 
be saved?” Acts xvi, 30. His great solicitude 
is how to secure his soul. O how he would 
bless you if you could put him out of doubt of 
this ! 

His fears take another turn, Heb. xi, 25, 27. 
Once he was afraid of nothing so much as the 
loss of his estate or esteem, the ‘pleasure of 
friends, or the frowns of the great ; nothing 
sounded so-terrible to him as pain, or poverty, 
or disgrace : now these are little to him in com- 
parison of God’s dishonour or displeasure. How 
warily doth he walk lest he should tread upon a 
snare! He feareth always ; he looks before and 
behind; he hath his eye upon his heart, and is 
often casting it over his shoulder, lest he should 
be overtaken with sin, Psalm xxxix, 1; Prov. 
xxviii, 14: Eccles. ii, 14. It kills his heart to 


THE NATURE: OF CONVERSION. 27 


think of losing God’s favour; this he dreads as 
his only undoing, Psalm li, 11, 12, and cxix, 8. 
No thought in the world doth pinch him and pain 
him so much, as to think of parting with Christ. 

His love runs a new course. ‘“ My love was 
crucified,” saith Ignatius; that is, my Christ. 
“This is my beloved,” saith the spouse, Cant. v, 
16. How doth Augustine often pour out his 
love upon Christ ? “ O eternal blessedness,” &c. 
He can find no words sweet enough: “ Let me 
see thee, O light of mine eyes! Come, O thou 
joy of my spirit! Let me behold thee, O life of 
my soul! Appear unto me, O my great delight, 
my sweet comfort! O my God, my life, and the 
whole glory of my soul! Let me find thee, O 
desire of my heart! Let me hold thee, O love of 
my soul! Let me embrace thee, O heavenly 
bridegroom! Let me possess thee.” 

His sorrows have now a new vent, 2 Cor. vii, 
9,10. The view of hissins, the sight of a Christ 
crucified, that would scarce stir him before, now 
how do they affect his heart ! 

His hatred boils, his anger burns against sin, 
Psalm cxix, 104. He calls himself: fool, and 
thinks any name too good for himself, when this 
indignation is stirred up against sin, Psa. Ixxiii, 
22; Prov. xxx, 2. 

“ Commune then with thy own heart,” and 
attend the common and general current of thine 
affection, whether it be toward God in Christ 
above all. other concernments. Indeed, sudden 
and strong commotions of the affections and 
sensitive parts are often found in hypocrites, 


28 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


especially where the natural inclination leads 
thereunto: and contrariwise, the sanctified 
themselves are many times without very sensible 
stirring of the affections, where the temper is 
more slow, dry, and dull. The great inquiry is, 
whether the judgment and willbe steadily de- 
termined for God, above all other good, real or 
apparent ; and if the affections do sincerely fol- 
low their choice and conduct, though it be not 
so strongly and sensibly asis to be desired, there 
is no doubt but the change is saving. 

- 2. “© Throughout the members.” Those that 
were before the instruments of sin, are now be- 
come the holy utensils of Christ’s living temple, 
Rom. vi, 16; 1 Cor. iii,16. The eye that was 
once a wandering eye, a wanton eye, a haughty, 
covetous eye, is now employed as Mary’s in 
weeping over its sins, Luke vii, 38; in behold- 
ing God in his works, Psalm viii, 3 ; in reading 
his word, Acts viii, 30 ; in looking up and down 
for objects of mercy, and tt Mingo for his 
service. 

The ear that was once open to Satan’s call, 
and that, like a vitiated palate, did relish nothing 
so much as filthy, or at least frothy talk, and the 
fool’s laughter, is now bored to the door of Christ’s 
house, and open to discipline : it saith, “ Speak, 
Lord, for thy servant heareth ;” and waits for 
his words as the rain, and relisheth them more 
than the appointed food, Job xxxiii, 12, “ than 
the honey and the honeycomb,” Psalm xix, 10. 

The head that was the shop of worldly designs, 
is now filled with other matters, and set on the 


THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 29 


study of God’s..will, Psalm i, 2, and .cxix, 97. 
The thoughts and cares that fill it, are princi- 
pally how he may please God and flee sin. 

His heart, that was full of filthy lusts, is now 
become an altar of incense, where the fire of 
Divine love is ever kept in; and whence the 
daily sacrifice of prayer and praise, and the 
sweet incense of holy desires, ejaculations, and 
aspirations, are continually ascending, Psalm 
cvill, 1, and cxix, 20, and cxxxix, 17, 18. 

The mouth is become a well of life, his tongue 
as choice silver, and his lips feed many, now 
the salt of grace hath seasoned his speech, and 
eat out the corruption, Col. iv, 6, and cleansed 
the mouth from its filthy communication, flattery, 
boasting, lying, swearing, backbiting, that once 
came like flashes from the hell that was in the 
heart, James ili, 6, 7. 

The throat that was once “an open sepul- 
chre,”’ Rom. ili, 13, now sends forth the sweet 
breath of prayer and holy discourse, and the 
man speaks in another tongue, in the language 
of Canaan, and is never so well as when talk- 
ing of God and Christ, and the matters of ano- 
ther world. His mouth bringeth wisdom, his 
tongue is become the silver trumpet of his 
Maker’s praise, his glory, and the best member 
he hath. 

Now here you shall have the hypocrite halt- 
ing : he speaks, it may be, like an angel, but he 
hath a covetous eye, or the gain of unrighteous- 
ness in his hand ; or the hand is white, but his 
heart is full of rottenness, Matt. xxili, 27, full 


30 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


of unmortified cares,a very oven of lust, a shop 
of pride, the seat of malice. It may be with 
Nebuchadnezzar’s image, he hath a golden head, 
a great deal of knowledge: but he hath feet of 
clay, his affections are worldly, he minds worldly 
things, and his way and walk are sensual and 
carnal; you may trace him in secret haunts, 
and his footsteps will be found in some by- 
paths of sin. ‘The work is not throughout with 
him. 

3 “Throughout the motions or the life and 
practice.” ‘The new man takes a new course, 
Eph. ii, 2, 3, ‘his conversation is in heaven,” 
Phil. iii, 20. No sooner doth he obey the call 
of Christ, but he straightway becomes a follower 
of him, Matt. iv, 20. When God hath given the 
new heart, and wrote his law in his mind, he 
forthwith walks in his statutes, and keeps his 
judgments; Ezek. xxxvi, 26, 27. 

Though sin may be in him, yet it “hath no 
more dominion over him,” Rom. vi, 7, 14, he 
‘hath his fruit unto holiness,” chap. vi, 22.— 
And the law of life, and Jesus, is what he eyes 
as his copy, Psalm cxix, 30; Heb. xii, 2; and 
he hath an unfeigned respect for all God’s com- 
mandments, making conscience even of little 
sins and little duties, Psalm cxix, 113. His 
very infirmities are his soul’s burden, and are 
like the dust in a man’s eye, which, though but 
little, yet is not a little troublesome. (O man! 
dost thou read this, and never turn it upon thy 
soul by self-examination?) The sincere convert 
is not one man at church and another at home ; 


‘THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 31 


he is not a saint on his knees, and a cheat in his 
shop ; he will not tithe mint and cummin, and 
neglect “ mercy and judgment, and the weightier 
matters of the law ;” he doth not pretend piety 
and neglect morality, Matt. xxii, 14; but he 
turneth from all his sins, and keeps all God’s 
statutes, Ezek. xviii, 21, not allowing himself 
in the breach of any, Romans.vii, 15. Now he 
delights in the word, and sets himself to prayer, 
and opens his hand and draws. out his soul to 
the hungry, Rom. vii, 22; Psalm cix, 4; Isa. 
lviii, 10. “ He breaketh off his sins by right- 
eousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy 
to the poor,” Daniel iv, 27, and “ hath a good 
conscience, willing in all things to live honestly,” 
Heb. xiii, 18, 18, and to keep without offence 
toward God and man. 

Here again you find the unsoundness of many 
professors, that take themselves for good Chris- 
tians: they are partial in the law, Malachi ii, 9, 
and take up with the cheap and easy duties of 
religion, but go not through with the. work. 
They are as a cake not turned. It may be you 
shall have them exact in their words, punctual 
in. their dealings, but then they do not exercise 
themselves unto godliness; and for examining 
themselves, and governing their hearts, to this 
they are strangers. You may have them duly 
at church, but follow them to their families, and 
there you shall see little but the world minded ; 
or if they have a road for family duties, follow 
them to their closets, and there you shall find 
their souls are little looked after. It may be 


32 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


they seem otherwise religious, but bridle not 
their tongues, and so all their religion is vain, 
James i, 26. It may be they come up to closet 
and family prayer; but follow them to their 
shops, and there you shall find them in a trade 
of lying, or some covert and cleanly way of de- 
ceit. ‘Thus the hypocrite goes. throughout in 
the course of his obedience. And thus much 
am the subject of conversion. » 

6. “ The terms are either from which, or to 
which.” 

1. “ The terms from which we turn in this 
motion of conversion, are sin, Satan, the world, 
and. our own righteousness.” 

First, Sin. When a man is converted he is 
out with sin; yea, with allsin, Psalm exix, 128, 
But most of all with his own sins, and especially 
with his bosom sin, Psalm xviii, 23. Sin is now 
the butt of his indignation, 2 Cor. vii, 11; he 
thirsts to bathe his hands in the blood of his sins. 
His sins set his sorrows abroach: if God should 
give him his choice, he would choose any afilic- 
tion so he might be rid of sin. 

Before conversion he had light thoughts of 
sin; he cherished it in his bosom, as Uriah his 
lamb ; ‘he nourished it up,and it grew up 
together with him ; it did eat as it were his own 
meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his 
bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.” But 
when God opens his eyes by conversion, he 
throws it away with abhorrence, Isa. xxx, 22. 
When a man is savingly changed, he is not only 
deeply convinced of the danger, but defilement 


THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 33 


of sin ; and O, how earnest is he with God to'be 
purified! He loathes himself for his sins, Ezek. 
xxxvi, 31. He runs to Christ, and “ casts. him- 
self into-the fountain for sin and for unclean- 
ness,” Zech. xiii, 1. 

The sound convert is heartily Pred ad against 
sin, he struggles with it, he wars against it ; 
he will never yield the cause nor lay down his 
weapons, but he will up and to it again while 
he has breath in his body... He can forgive his 
other enemies, he can pity them and pray for 
them, Acts vii, 60 ; but here he is. implacable, 
here he is set upon revenge : his eye shall not 
pity, his hand shall not spare, though it be a 
right hand or a right eye. Be it a gainful sin, 
most delightful to his nature, or support to his 
esteem with carnal friends, yet: he will rather 
throw away his gain, see his credit fall, or the 
flower of pleasure wither in his hand, than 
he will allow, himself in any known way of sin, 
Luke xix, 8. . He will grant no indulgence, he 
will give no toleration, he draws upon’ sin 
wherever he meets it, and frowns upon it with” 
this: unwelcome alate. “ Have I found thee, O 
mine enemy 2”. 

Reader, hath conscience been at work while 
thou hast.been looking over these lines? Hast 
thou pondered these things i in thy heart? Hast 
thou searched the book within, to see if these — 
things be so ? If not, read it again, and make thy 
conscience speak, whether or “not it be thus with 
thee. -. 

Hast thou.“ crucified thy flesh, with its affec- 
3 


34 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


tions and lusts:” and not only confessed, but 
forsaken thy sins? All sin-in thy desires, and the 
ae of every deliberate and wilful sin in thy 
life! If not, thou art yet unconverted. 

Secondly, Satan. Conversion *“ binds the 
strong man, spoils him of his armour, casts out 
his goods, and turns.men from the power of 
Satan unto God,” Acts xxvi, 18. - Before, the 
devil-could no sooner hold up- his finger to the 
sinner to call him to his wicked company, sinful 
games, filthy delights, but presently he followed, 
“like an ox to the slaughter, and a fool to the 
correction of the stocks ; as a bird that hasteth 
to the prey, and knoweth not that it is for his 
life.”” But when he is converted, he serves ano- 
ther Master, and takes quite another course, 
1 Pet. iv, 4; he goes and comes at Christ’s 
beck, Col. ii, 24. He watches against the 
snares and baits of Satan, and studies to be ac- 
quainted with his devices : he is very suspicious 
of his plots, and is very jealous of what comes 
athwart him, lest Satan should have some design 
upon him : he “ wrestles against principalities 
and powers,” Eph. vi; 12; he entertains the 
messenger of Satan as men do the messenger of 
death ; he keeps his eye upon his enemy, 1 Pet. 
v, 8, anid watches in his duties lest Satan should 
put in his foot. 

Thirdly, The world. Before a sound faith, 
a man is overcome of the world: either he 
bows down to mammon, or idolizes his reputa. 
tion, or is a “lover of pleasure more than a 
- jover of God,” 2 Tim. ii, 4. Here is the root 


THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 30 


of man’s misery by. the fall, he is turned aside 
‘to the creature’ instead of God, and ‘gives: that 
esteem, confidence, and SAScHons to the crea- 
ture- that is due to him’ alone, Rom. 1, 25; 
Matt. x, 37; Prov. xviii, 11; Jer. xvii, 5. 

But converting grace sets all-in order again, 
and puts God on : thethrone, and the world his. 
footstool, Psalm Ixxiii, 25. Christ in the heart, 
and the world under the feet, Eph. iii, 17;. Rev. 
xii, 1. So Paul, “I am cr ucified to the earte 
and the. world to me,” Gal.-vi,14. Before this 
change, ali the cry was, “ Who ‘will. show us 
any worldly good?” But now he sings another 
tune, “ Lord, lift thou up, the hight of thy coun- 
tenance upon me,” and let who will take the 
corn and wine, Psalm iv, 6, 7. Before, his 
heart’s delight and content was in the world; 
then the song was, “ Soul, take thine ease; eat, 
drink, and ‘be merry; thou hast. much goods 
laid up for mary years:” but- now all: this is 
withered, and “ there isno comeliness that he 
should desire it,” andhe tunes up with the 
sweet psalmist of Israel, “¢ The Lord is the por- 
tion of my inheritance: the lines are fallen to 
me in a fair place, and I have a goodly heritage.” 
He blesseth himself and boasteth himself in God, 
Psalm xxxiv, 2; Lam. -iii, 24. _ Nothing else 
can give him content. “He hath written vanity 
and vexation upon all his. worldly enjoyments, 
Eccles. i, 2, and.loss and dung upon all human 
excellencies, Phil. iii, 7,8. - He hath light and 
immortality now in chase, Rom. ii, 7.- ie pur- 
sues grace and glory,and hath an incorruptible 


36 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


crown in pursuit, 1 Cor. ix, 25. His* heart is 
set in him to. seek the Lord, 1 Chron, xxii, 9, 
and 2 Chron. xy, 15. He “ first seeks the 
kingdom of heaven and the righteousness there- 
of ;” and religion is no lJonger a matter by the 
by with him, but the main of his care, Matthew 
vi, 33 ; Psalm xxvii, 4. 

Well, then, pause a little; and look. within : 
doth not this nearly concern thee ?’ Thou _pre- 
tendest for Christ, but doth not the world sway 
thee ? Dost not thou take more real delight and 
content in the world than in him? Dost thou 
not find thyself better at ease when, the world 
goes to thy mind, and thou art encompassed 
with carnal delights, than when retired to prayer 
and meditation in thy closet, or attending upon 
God’s word and worship ? No: surer evidence 
of.an unconverted state than to have the things 
of the world uppermost in our aim, love, and 
estimation, John ii, 15; James iv, 4. > 

With the sound ‘convert, Christ hath the su- 
premacy. How dear ishis name to him! How 
precious is his favour! Cant. i,3; Psa. xlv, 8 
The name of Jesus is engraven upon his heart, 
Gal. iv, 19, and lies as a bundle of myrrh between 
his breasts, Cant. 1, 13,14. Honour is but air, 
and laughter is but meduele: and mammon is 
fallen, like Dagon before the ark, with hands and 
head broken off: on. the threshold, when once © 
Christ is savingly revealed. Here is the pearl 
of great price to the convert, here is his treasure, 
here is his hope, Matt. xiii, 44, 45. This is his 
glory, “ My beloved is mine, and Lam his,” Gal. 


THE NATURE OF’ CONVERSION. oo 


vi, 14; Cant. 1,16; O, it is sweeter to him to 
be able to say, Christ is mine, than if he could 
say, The kingdom ismine: The Indies are mine. 
Fourthly, Your own righteousness. Before 
conversion, man seeks to cover himself with his 
own fig leaves, Phil. ii, 6, 7, and to make him- 
self whole with his own duties, Mic. vi, 6,7. He 
is apt to trustin himself, Luke xvi, 16, and xviii, 
9, and sets up ,his own righteousness, and to 
reckon his counters for gold, and not submit to 
the righteousness of God,-Rom, x, 3._ But con- 
version changes ‘his mind; now he casts away 
his own righteousness as a filthy rag, Isa. xliv, 6 
Now he is brought to poverty of spirit, Matthew 
v, 3; complains of, and condemns himself, Rom. 
Vil andall his inventory by nature, is “ poor, and 
miser able, and wretched, and blind, and naked,” 
Rey. iii, 17. He sees a world of iniquity in his 
holy things, and calls his once idolized righteous- 
ness but filth and dross; and would not for a 
thousand worlds be found in himself, Phil. ui, 
4, 7, 8, 9. ‘His finger is ever upon his sores, 
Psalm i, 3, his sins, his wants. Now he begins 
to set a high price upon Christ’s righteousness ; 
he sees the need of a Christ in every duty 
to justify both his person and performances ; 
he cannot: live without him; he cannot pray 
without him; Christ must 20 with him, or 
else he cannot come into the presence of 
God; he leans upon the hand of Christ, and 
so bows himself i in the house of his God : he 
sets himself down for a lost, undone man without 
him ; his lifeis hid, and grows in Christ, as the 


38 THE NATURE: OF CONVERSION. 


root of a tree spreads in the earth for stability 
and nutriment. Before, the news of Christ was 
a stale and sapless thing; but now how sweet 
is Christ! The voice of the convert.is, with the 
martyr, “ None but Christ.” .. 

The terms to which we turn are, | 

Ist. To God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

2dly. To the pally ordinances, and ways of 
Christ. ; ; 

A man is never -traly. justified, till his very 
heart be in truth set upon God above all things, 
as his portion and chief good. .These are the 
natural breathings of a believer’s heart : “ Thou 
art--my portion,” Psalm cxix, 57. “ My soul 
shall make her boast in the Lord,” Psa. xxxvi, 
2. My expectation is from him; he only is 
my rock and my salvation, he is my , defence. 
In God is my salvation and glory ; the rock of 
my strength, and my refuge is in God,” Psalm 
Ixii, 1, 2, 5, 7, and xviii, 1, 2... 

Would you put it to an issue s whether you be 
converted. or not? Now let.thy soul, and all 
that is within thee, attend:— 

Hast, thou: taken God for thy snomeamel 
Where doth the content of thy heart lie? Whence 
doth thy choicest comfort come in? Come, then, 
and with Abraham, “lift up thine eyes eastward 
and westward, and northward and southward,” 
and cast about thee. What is it that thou 
wouldst have in heaven -or on earth to, make — 
thee happy ? If God should give thee thy choice, 
as he did Solomon, or would say to'thee as Aha- 
suerus to Esther, “ What is thy petition, and what 


THE NATURE OF. CONVERSION. 39 


is. thy request, and it shall be granted thee ?” 
Esther v, 3 ;—what wouldest thou. ask? Go 
into the gardens of pleasure, and gather all fra- 
grant flowers from thence, would these content 
thee ? Go to the‘treasures of mammon, suppose 
thou mightest lade thyself as heavy as. thou 
wouldest from thence: Go to the towers, to the 
trophies of honour : what thinkest thou of being 
a man of renown, and having a name like the 
name of the great men of the earth? Would any 
of these, would all these suffice thee, and make 
thee count thyself a happy man? If so, then 
certainly thou art carnal and unconverted. If 
not, go farther ; wade into the Divine excellen- 
cies, the store of his mercies, the hiding of his 
power, the depth unfathomable of his all-suffi- 
ciency ; doth this suit thee best, and please thee 
most ? Dost thou-say, “It<is good to be here?” 
Matt. xvii, 4.‘ Here will I. pitch, here will I 
live and die.”’. Wilt thou let all the world go 
rather than this? -'Then itis well between God 
and thee. Happy art thou,,.Q man, happy art 
thou, that ever thou wast born; if a God can 
make thee happy, thou must needs be happy; 
for thou hast vouched the Lord:to be thy God, 
Deut. xxvi, 17. Dost thou-say to Christ as he 
tous, “ Thy Father shall be my Father, and thy 
God be my God?’ John xiv, 7. Here is the 
turning -point. An unsound professor never 
takes up his rest in God, but converting grace 
does the work, and so cures the fatal misery of 
_the fall, by turning the heart from its idol to the 
living God, 1. Thess. i, 9... .Now says the soul, 


40 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


“ Lord, whither shall I go? Thou hast the words 
of eternal life,” John vi, 68. Here he centres, 
here he settles ; O! it is the entrance of heaven 
to him to see his interest in God. “ When he 
discovers this, he saith, “ Return unto thy rest, 
O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully 
with thee,” Psalm cxvi, 7; and is even ready 
to breathe out Simeon’s song, “ Lord, now lettest 
thou thy servant depart in peace,” Luke ii, 29, 
and saith with Jacob, when his old heart revived. 
at the welcome tidings, “It is enough,” Gen. 
xly, 28. When-he seeth that he hath a God in 
covenant to go to, “ this is all his salvation, and 
all his desire,” 2.Sam. xxiii, 5. 

Man, is this thy case ? hast thou experienced 
this ? why then, “blessed art thou of the Lord ;” 
God. hath been at work with thee, he hath laid 
hold on thy heart by the power of converting 
grace, or, else thou couldest never have done 
this. ~ 

The true convert turns to Jesus Christ the 
only mediator between God and man, 1 Tim. 
ii, 5. His work-is to bring us to God, 1 Pet. 
ili, 18. He is the way to the Father, John xiv, 
6, the only plank on which we may escape, the 
only door by which we -may enter, John x, 9, 
as the only means of life, as the only way, the 
only name given under heaven, Acts iv, 12. He 
looks not for salvation in any other but him, nor 
in any other with him; but throws himself on 
Christ alone, as one that should cast himself 
with arms spread out upon the sea: - - 

“ Here,” says the convinced sinner, “IT will 


THE NATURE. OF CONVERSION. 41 


venture ; and if I perish, I perish; if I die, I 
will die here. But Lord, suffer me not to perish 
_under the pitiful. eye of thy mercy. Entreat 
me not to leave thee, or to turn away from fol- 
lowing after thee,’ Ruth i, 16... Here I will 
throw. myself :. if thou kick me, if thou kill me, 
I will not go from thy door, Job xiii, 17. 

Thus the poor soul doth venture on Christ, 
and resolvedly adhere to him. - Before conver- 
sion the man made light of Christ; minded his 
farm, friends, merchandise, more thar Christ, 
Matt. xxii,5 ; now Christ is to him as his neces- 
sary food, his daily bread, the life of his heart, 
the staff of his life, Gal. 1i, 20. His great des 
sign is, that Christ may be magnified in him, 
Phil. i, 20. His heart once said as.they to 
the spouise, ‘* What 28. thy beloved-more than 
another ?” Cant. v, 9. He found more sweet- 
ness in his merry company, wicked games, and 
earthly delights, than in Christ, He took reli- 
~ gion for afancy, and the talkof great enjoyments 
for.an idle dream: but now “ for him to live is 
Christ.” He sets light by all that he accounted 
precious, “ for the excellency of the knowledge | 
of Christ,” Phil. iii,.8. | 

All of Christ is accepted by the sincere con- 
vert, he loves not only the wages, but the work 
of Christ, Rom. vii, 12 ; not only the: benefits, 
but the burden of Christ : he is willing not only 
to tread out the corn but to draw under the yoke ; 
he takes up the commands of Christ, yea, and the 
cross of Christ, Matt. xi, 9, and xvi, 24. 

The unsound conyert closes only by halves 

te 


42 THE» NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


with Christ; heis all for the salvation of Christ, 
but he is not. for sanctification ; he is for the 
privileges, but values not the person of Christ : 
he divides the:offices and benefits of Christ. 
This is an error in the foundation: who loveth 
life, let him beware here! it isan undoing mis- 
take, of which you have been often warned, 
and yet none more common. Jesus is a sweet 
name, but men “love not the Lord Jesus in 
sincerity,” Ephes. vi, 24. They will not have 
him as God offers, “to be a Prince and a Sa- 
viour,” Acts vi, 31. They divide what God hath 
joined, the King and the Priest: yea, they will 
not accept the salvation of Christ as he intends 
it: they divide it here. . Every man’s vote is 
for salvation from suffering, but they desire not 
to be saved from sinning ;.they would have their 
lives saved, but ‘withal would have their lusts. 
Yea, many divide here again; they would be 
content to have some of their sins destroyed, 
but they cannot leave the lap of Delilah, or di- 
vorce the beloved Herodias. They cannot be 
cruel to the right eye or right hand; the “Lord 
must pardon them in this thing,” 2 Kings v, 18. 

O be infinitely tender here; your sonis lie 
upon it. The sound convert takes a whole 
Christ, and takes him for all intents and pur- 
poses, without exceptions, without limitations, 
without reserves. He is willing to-have Christ 
upon his own terms, upon any terms. He is 
willing to have the dominion of Christ as well 
as deliverance by Christ. He saith with Paul, 
“ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Acts 


THE NATURE OF OGONVERSION. 43 


ix, 6; any thing, Lord: he sends a blank to 
at to set down. his conditions, Acts 1,37, 
and xvi, 30. 

2dly. He turns to the laws, ordinances, and 
ways of Christ. .The heart that was once set 
against these, and could not endure the strictness 
of these bonds, the severity of these ways, now 
falls in love with them, and chooses them as its 
rule and guide for ever, Psa. cxix, 111, 112. 

Four. things, I observe, God Bel ee eral, in 
every sound conyert, with reference to the laws 
and ways of Christ, by which you may‘come to 
know your state, if you will be faithful to your 
own souls; and therefore keep your eyes upon 
your heart as you go along. 

Ist. “ The judgment is brought to‘approve 
of them, and subscribe to them as most right- 
eous and most reasonable,” Psalm cxix, 112, 
128, 137, 138. The mind is brought to. like 
the ways of.God; and the corrupt prejudices 
that were once against them as unreasonable 
and intolerable, are now removed :. the under- 
standing assents to them all, as “ holy, just, and 
good,” Rom. vii, 2. How is David taken up 
with the excellencies of God’s laws! How doth 
he expatiate in their praise, both from their in- 
herent qualities and admirable preci! Psalm 
xix, 8, 10, &c. . 

edly. «“ The.desire of the heart.is to know the 
whole mind of Christ,” Psalm cxix, 124, 125, 
169, and xxv, 4, 5. He would not have one 
sin undiscovered, nor be ignorant of one duty 
required. It is the natural and earnest breathing 


44 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. ~ 


of a sanctified heart, “ Lord; if there be any way 
of wickedness in mé, do thou discover it, What 
I know not, teach thou me ;, and if 1 have done 
iniquity, I will do it no more.” The unsound 
convert is willingly ignorant, 2 Pet. iii, 5, loves 
not to come to the light, John iii, 20. He is 
willing to keep such or such asin, and therefore 
is loath to know it-to be a sin, and will not let 
in the light at that window. Now the gracious 
heart is willing to know the whole latitude and 
compass of his Maker’s law, Psalm exix, 18, 19, 
27, 33, 64, 66, 68, 78,108, 124. He receives 
with all acceptation the word that convinceth 
him of any duty that. he knew not, or minded 
not before, or discovereth any sin that lay hid 
before, Psalm cxix, 11. 

3dly. “ The free and resolved choice of the 
will is determined for the ways of Christ, be- 
fore all the pleasures of sin, and prosperities of 
the world,” Psalm cxix, 103, 127, 162. His 
consent is not extorted by some extremity of 
anguish; nor is it only a sudden and hasty 
resolve, but he is deliberately purposed, and 
comes off freely to the choice, Psalm xvii, 3, 
and cxix, 30. True, the flesh will rebel, yet 
the prevailing part of his will is for Christ’s 
law and government ; so that he takes them not 
up as his toil or burden, but his bliss, 1 John 
vy, 3;° Psalm cxix, 60,'72. “While the unsanc- 
tified goes in Christ’s ways as in chains and 
fetters, he doth it naturally, Psalm xl, 8; Jer. 
xxxi, 33, and counts Christ’s laws his liberty, 
Psalm cxix, 32,45; James i, 25. He is will- 


THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 45 


ing in the beauties of holiness, Psalm cx, 3, and 
hath this inseparable mark, “ that he had rather 
(if he might. have his choice) live a strict and 
holy life, than the most prosperous and flour- 
ishing life inthe world.” 1 Sam. x, 26,“ There 
went with Saul a band of men whose hearts 
God had touched.”? When God toucheth the 
hearts of men, they presently fellow Christ, 
Matt. iv, 2; and (though drawn) do freely run 
after him, Cant. 1, 4, and willingly offer them- 
selves ‘to the service of the Lord, 2 Chron. xvu, 
16, seeking him with their whole desire, chap. 
xv, 15. Fear hath its use; but this is not the 
main spring of motion with the sanctified heart. 
Christ keeps not his subjects in by force, but is 
King of a willing people. They are, through 
his grace, freely resolved for his service, and 
do it out of choice, not as slaves, but as the son 
or spouse, from a spring of love and loyal mind. 
In a word, the laws of Christ are the convert’s 
love, Psalm exix, 159, 163, 167; his desire, 
verse 2, 20, 40; his delight, verse 97, 99, 103, 
ip 1 143 ; : and "continual pinda verse 97, 99, 
oan Psalm 1, 2. 

Athly. “ The bent of this course is directed to 
keep God’s statutes,’ Psalm exix, 4, 8, 167, 168. 
It is the daily care of his life to walk with. God. 
He seeks great things, he hath noble. designs, 
though he falls too short. He aimsat nothing 
less than perfection; he desires it, lie reaches 
after it; he would not rest in any pitch of grace, 
till he were quite rid of. sin, and had perfected 
holiness, Phil. 11, 11, 14. 7 


46 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 


Here the- hypocrite’s rottenness may be dis- 
‘covered. '. He desires holiness, as one well said, 
only as a’ bridge to heaven, and inquires ear- 
nestly what is the least that will serve his turn ; 
and if he can get but so much as may bring him 
to heaven, this is all he cares for. But the sound 
_convert desires holiness for holiness’ sake, Psalm 
cxix, 97 ; Matt. v, 6, and not only for heaven’s 
sake. He would nct be satisfied with so much 
as might save him from hell, but desires the 
highest pitch : yet desires are not enough: what 
is thy way and thy course? Is the drift and 
scope of thy life altered? Is holiness thy trade, 
and religion thy business ? Romans viii, 1; Matt. 
xxv, 16; Phil. 1,20. -If not, thou art short of 
sound conversion. ; 

Appricarion, And is this that we have de. 
scribed the conversion that is of absolute neces- 
sity to:salvation? ‘Then be informed, 1. That 
“strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that 
leadeth unto life.” 2.“ That there are but 
few that find it.” 3. That there is need of a 
Divine power savingly to convert a sinner to 
Jesus Christ. 

Again: Then be exhorted, O man that read- 
est, to tarn ip upon thy own self, What saith 
conscience ?- Doth it not begin to bite? Doth 
if not pain thee asthou goest? Is this thy judg. 
ment, this thy choice ; and this thy way that we 
have described? If so, then it is well. But 
doth not thy heart condemn thee, and tell thee 
there is such a sin as thou.livest in, against thy 
conscience? Doth it not tell thee, there is such 


ie % 


THE NATURE OF ‘CONVERSION. 47 


and such a secret way of wickedness that thou 
art guilty of? Such or such a duty that thou 
makest no conscience of ? 

Doth not conscience carry thee to thy closet, 
and tell thee how seldom prayer and reading are 
performed there? — 

Doth it not carry thee to thy family, and show 
thee the charge of God, and the souls of thy 
children and-servants that are neglected there ? 
Doth not conscience lead thee to thy shop, thy 
trade, and tell thee of some mystery of iniquity 
there? Doth it not carry thee to thy places of 
entertainment, and remind thee of the company 
thou keepest there ; the precious time thou mis- 
spendest there; the talents thou wastest there ? 
Doth it not lead thee to thy secret chamber, 
and discover to thee.things that are hid from 
the eyes of man, and known only to'God and 
thyself? | | 

O conscience, do thy duty: in the name of 
the living God, I command thee to discharge thy 
office. Lay hold upon this sinner, fall upon him, 
arrest him, apprehend him,undeceive him. What! 
wilt thou flatter and soothe him while he lives in 
his sins? Awake, O conscience ; what meanest 
thou, O sleeper? What! Hast thou never a re- 
proof in thy mouth? What! Shall-this soul die 
in his careless neglect of God and eternity, and 
thou altogether hold thy peace? What! Shall 
he go on in his trespasses, and yet have peace ? 
O rouse up thyself, and do thy work! Now let 
the preacher in thy bosom speak, ery aloud and 
spare not: lift up thy voice like a trumpet: 


48 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 


let not the blood of his soul be ses de at thy 
hands. . 


CHAPTER IL. 
Of the necessity of conversion. 


Ir may be you are ready to say, What mean- 
eth this stir? And are apt to wonder why I fol- 
low you with such earnestness, still ringing one 
lesson in your ears, that you should “ repent and 
be. converted,” Acts. iii, 19. But I must say 
unto you as Ruth to Naomi, “ Entreat me not- 
to leave you, nor to turn. aside from following 
after you,” Ruth i, 16. Were it a matter of 
indifferency, I would never make so much ado: 
might you be saved as you be, I would gladly 
let you alone: but would you not have me-so- 
licitous for you, when I see you ready to perish? 
As the Lord liveth, before whom I am, Ihave 
not the least hopes of seeing one of your faces 
in heaven, except you be converted; I utterly 
despair of your salvation, except you will be 
prevailed with to turn thoroughly, and give up 
yourselves to God in holiness and newness of 
life. Hath God said, “ Except ye be born again, 
ye cannot see the kingdom of God,” John iii, 3, 
and yet do you wonder why your ministers do . 
so plainly travail in birth with you? Think it 
not strange that I am in earnest with you to fol- 
low after holiness, and long to see the image of 
God upon you: never did any, nor shall any, 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 49 


enter into heaven by any other way but this, 
The conversion described is not a high pitch of 
some taller Christians, but’ every soul that is 
saved passeth this universal change. 

It wasa passage of the noble Roman, when 
he was hastening with corn to the city in the 
famine, and the mariners were loath to set sail 
in foul weather, “ Our: voyage is more necessary 
than our lives.”» What is it that thou dost count 
necessary ? Is thy bread necessary? Is thy 
breath necessary ? Then thy conversion is much 
more necessary. Indeed, this is the one thing 
necessary. Thineestate is not necessary ; thou 
mayest sell all for the pearl of great price, and 
yet be a gainer by the purchase, Matt. xiii, 46. 
Thy life is not necessary ; thou mayest part with 
it for Christ to an infinite advantage. Thine 
esteem is not necessary $ thou mayest be re- 
proached for the name of Christ, and yet be 
happy : yea, muca more happy inreproach than 
in repute, 1 Pet. iv, 14; Matt.v, 10,11. But 
thy conversion is necessary ;.thy damnation lies 
upon it.» Andis it not needful, in so important 
a case, to look about thee? On this one point 
depends thy making or marring to all eternity. 

But I shall more particularly show the neces. 
sity of conversion in five things; for without this, 

First, “ Thy being. is vain.” Is it not a pity 
that thou shouldest be goed for nothing, an un- 
profitable burden of the earth, a wart or wen 
in the body of the, universe? Thus thou art 
while unconverted : for thou canst not answer. 
the end of thy being. - Is it not for the Divine 

4 


50 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


pleasure that. thou art and wert created? Rev. 
iv, 11. Did he not make thee for himself? Prov. 
xvi,4. Art thou a man, and hast thou reason ? 
Why, then, -bethink:-thyself why and whence 
thy being is: behold God’s workmanship in 
thy body, and ask thyself, To what end did 
God. rear this fabric? Consider the noble 
faculties of thy heaven-born soul: to what end 
did God bestow. these excellencies? To no 
other than that thou shouldest please thyself, 
and gratify thy senses? Did God send men like 
the swallows: into the world, only to gather a 
few sticks and dirt, and build their nests, and 
breed up their young,and then away? The 
very heathens could see farther than this.— 
“ Art thou so fearfully and wonderfully made,” 
Psalm cxix, 14, and dost thou not yet think 
with thyself, Surely it was for some noble and 
high end ? 

O man! set thy reason a little in the chair, 
Is it not pity such a goodly fabric should be 
raisedin vain? Verily thou art in vain, except 
thou art for God: better-thou hadst no being, 
‘than not to be for him.‘. Wouldest thou serve 
thy end? Thou must repent and be converted ; 

. without this, thou art to no purpose, yea, to bad 
purpose. 

‘First, to no purpose. Man untiinvactl is 
like a choice instrument that hath every string 
broke or out of tune, ‘The Spirit of the hving 
God must repair and tune it» by the grace of 
regeneration, and sweetly move it-by the power 
of actuating grace, or else thy prayers will be 


THE NECESSITY OF ‘CONVERSION. 51 


but howlings, and all thy services will make no 
music in the ears of the Most High, Eph. ii, 10; - 
Phil. ii, 18; Hos. vii, 14; Isa.i, 15. All thy 
powers and faculties are so corrupt in thy natu- 
ral state, that except thou be purged from dead 
works thou canst not serve the living God, Heb. 
ix, 1; Titus 1,15. 

An unsanctified man cannot fully work the 
work of God: he hath no skill in-it: he is 
altogether as unskilful in the work, as in the 
word of righteousness, Héb. v, 13... There« are 
great mysteries as well in the practices as in 
the principles of godliness: now the unregene- 
rate “ know not, the mysteries of the kingdom 
of heaven,” Matt. xiii, 11; 1 Tim. iii, 16. Alms- 
giving is not a service of God, but of vain glory, 
if not held forth by the hand of Divine or peni- 
tential love. What is the prayer of the lips with- 
out the heart, but the carcass without the life? 
What are all our confessions, unless they be 
exercises of godly sorrow and unfeigned repent- 
ance? What our petitions unless animated all 
along with holy desires, and faith in the Divine 
attributes and promises? What our praises and 
thanksgivings, unless from the love of God and — 
a holy gratitude, and sense-of God’s mercies in 
the heart? So that a man may as well expect 
the tree should speak, or look for logic from 
brutes, or motion from the dead, as for any ser- 
vice holy and perfectly acceptable to God, from 
the unconverted. When the tree is evil, how 
can the fruit be good? Matt. vii, 18. 

Secondly, To bad purpose. The unconverted 


52 THE NECESSITY. OF CONVERSION. 


soul is. a very cage of unclean birds, . Rey. 
- vill, 2; a-sepulchre full:of corruption and rot- 
tenness, Matt. xxiii, 27; a loathsome carcass, 
full. of crawling worms, and sending forth a 
hellish and most noisome savour in the nostrils 
of God, Psalm xiv, 3... O dreadful case! Dost 
thou not-see’a change to be needful? Would 
it not have grieved one to have seen the golden 
consecrated vessels of God’s temple tarned into 
quaffing bowls of cries and polluted 
with idol: service? Ban. v, 2, 3. ‘Was it such 
an abomination to the Jews, when Antiochus 
set up the picture of a swine at the entrance of 
the temple? How much more abominable then 
would it have been to have had the very tem. 
ple itself turned into a stable or a sty, and to 
have had the holy of holies served like the 
house of Baal, and to have been turned into a 
draught house? 2 Kings x, 27. ‘This is the 
very case with the unregenerate: all thy mem- 
bers are turned into instruments of unrighteous- 
ness, Rom. vi, 19; servants of Satan, and the 
inmost power into a receptacle of uncleanness, 
Eph. u, 2; Titusi, 15. You may see the un- 
godly guests within by what comes out; for, 
“ out of the heart proceed evil ‘thoughts, mur- 
der, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, 
blasphemies,” &c. ; these ciopirae whet a hell 
there is within. - 

Q abuse insufferable! to see a haltvele born 
soul abased to the filthiest drudgery! ‘To see 
the glory of God’s creation, the chief of the 
works of God, the lord of the universe, lap- 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 53 


ping with the prodigal at the-trough, or licking 
up with greediness the most loathsome vomit! 
What is such a lamentation, to see. those that 
did feed delicately, sit desolate im the streets ; 
and the precious sons of Sion, comparable to 
fine gold, esteemed but as earthen pitchers, 
and those that were clothed in scarlet embrace 
dung hills! Lam. v, 2,33; and is it not much 
more fearful to see the only thing that hath 
immortality. in this lower world, and carries 
the stamp of God, become as “ a vessel wherein 
there is no pleasure?” Jer. xxi, 283; (which 
is but a modest expression of the vessel men 
put to the most sordid use.) ~O indignity in- 
tolerable! Better thou :wert dashed in a thou- 
sand pieces, than continue to be abased to so 
filthy a service. 

Secondly, “ Not only. man, but the whole visi- 
ble creation, is in vain without this.” ~ Beloved, 
God hath made all the visible creatures th 
heaven and earth for the service of man, and 
man only is the spokesman. for all the rest.— 
Man is im the universe, like the tongue to the 
body, which speaks for all its members. The: 
other creatures cannot praise their Maker but 
by dumb signs, and hints to man that he should 
speak for them.- Man.is as it were the high 

“priest of God’s creation, to offer the sacrifice.of 
praise for all his fellow-creatures. ‘The Lord 
God expecteth a tribute of praise from all his 
works, Psa. cui, 22 ; ‘now all the rest ‘do bring 
in their tribute to man,-and pay it by his hand; 
so then if man be false, and faithless, and selfish, 


54 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


God is wronged of all, and shall have: ‘no active 
glory from-his works. . 

O dreadful thought to. think of! | that God 
sheuld build such a world as this, and lay out 
such infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness 
thereupon, and allin vain ; and that man should 
be guilty at last of robbing and spoiling him of 
the glory of all. © think of this! While thou 
art unconverted, all the offices of the creatures 
to thee are in vain ; thy meat nourisheth thee 
in yain, the sun holds forth its light to. thee in 
vain, the stars that serve thee in their course 
by their powerful, though hidden - influence, 
Judges v, 20,; Hosea ii, 21, 22, do itin vain ; 
thy clothes warm ‘thee in vain; thy beast car- 
ries thee in vain. Ina word, the unwearied 
labour and continued travail of the whole crea- 
tion, as to thee,.is in vain. The service of ail 
the creatures that drudge for thee, and yieid 
forth their strength unto -thee, that therewith 
thou* shouldest serve. their Maker, is all but 
lost labour.. Hence the whole. creation groan- 
eth under the abuse of this unsanctified world, 
Rom. viii, 22, that perverts them to the service 
of their lusts, quite contrary to the very end of 
their being. 

Thirdly, « Without this thy reliptin' is Vain,” 
James i, 26. All thy religious performances 
will be but lost, for they cannot save thy soul, 
1 Cor. xiii, 2, 8, which is the very end of re- 
ligion. Is not that man’s case dreadful whose 
sacrifices are as murders, and whose prayers 
are a breath of abomination ? Isa. Ixvi, 3; Prov. 


THE NECESSITY OF “CONVERSION. 55 


xxvili, 9. Many under convictions ‘think they 
will set upon mending, and that a few prayers 
and alms will save all again; ‘but alas! Sirs, 
while your hearts remain unsanctified, your 
duties will not pass. How punctual was Jehu! 
And yet all was rejected, because his heart was 
not upright, 2 Kings x, with Hosea i, 4. How 
blameless was Paul? And yet, being unconvert- 
ed, all was but loss, Phil. iii, 6, 7... Men think 
they do much in attending God’s service, and 
are ready to twit him with it, Isa. Iviii, 3; Matt. 
vil, 22, and set him down so much: their debtor, 
whereas their persons being unsanctified, their 
duties cannot be saving. 

O soul! do not think when thy sins. pursue, 
a little praying and reforming thy course will 
pacify Ged: thou must begin with thy heart ; 
if that be not renewed, thou canst not please 
God. 

God shivbaltot . as the greatest of temporal 
judgments, that they should build and not-in 
habit, plant and not gather; and that their 
labours should be eat up. by strangers, Deut. 
xxvill, 30, 38, 39, 41. Is it so greata misery 
to lose our common Jabours, to sow in vain, 
and build in vain’? How much more to lose our 
pains in religion, to pray, and hear, and fast in 
vain ? This is an undoing and eternal loss. Be 
not deceived, if thou goest on in thy sinful state, 
though thou shouldest spread forth thine hands, 
God will hide his eyes: though thou make many 
prayers, he will not hear, Isa. 1, i5. Ifa man 
without skill set about your work,and mar it in 


56 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


the'doing, though he take much pains, we give 
him but little thanks. ..God will be worshipped 
after the. due order, 1 Chron.-xv, 13. If a ser- 
yant do our work, but quite contrary to our order, 
he will have rather stripes than praise. God’s 
work must be done according to God’s mind, or 
he will not be pleased ; .and this cannot be, ex- 
cept it be done with a believing or penitential 
heart, 2 Chron. xxv; 2. 

Fourthly, “ Without this thy hopes are in vain,” 
Job vii, 12, 13. “The Lord hath rejected thy 
confidence,” Jer. li, 37. ~ - 

First, “The hope of comforts here is in 
vain.” It is not only necessary to the safety, 
but comfort of your condition, that you be con- 
verted. Without this, “ you shall not know 
peace,” Isaiah lix, 8; without the fear of God 
you cannot have “the comfort of the Holy 
Ghost,” Acts 1x, 31; God speaks peace only 
to his people and to his saints, Psalm Ixxxy, 8. 
If you have a false peace, continuing in your 
sins, it is not of God’s speaking, and then you 
may guess the author. Sin 1s a real sickness, 
Isaiah i, 5; yea, the worst of sickness ; it is a 
leprosy in the head, Lev. xii, 44; the plague 
in the heart, 1 Kings vii, 38; it is broken- 
ness in the bones, Psalm li;.8; it pierceth, it 
woundeth, it racketh, it tormenteth, 1 'Timothy 
vi, 10. A man may, as well expect ease when 
his distempers are in their full strength, or his 
bones out of joint, as true comfort while in his 
sins. 

O wretched man! that canst have no ease 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 57 


in this case but what comes from the deadliness 
of thy disease. You shall have the poor sick 
man saying in his lightness, J am well; when 
you see death in his face, he will needs up and 
about his business, when the very next.step is 
like to be in his grave. The unsanctified often 
see nothing amiss ; they think themselves whole, 
and cry not out for the Physician ; but this shows 
the danger of their case. 

Sin doth naturally breed Aeteitibiens and 
disturbances in the soul. What a continual 
tempest and commotion.is there in~a discon- 
tented mind ! What an eating influence is inor- 
dinate care !: What is passion but.a fever in 
the mind ? What is lust but a fire in the bones? 
What is pride but'a-deadly tympany ? Or covet- 
ousness, but an insatiable or insufferable thirst ? 
Or malice and envy, but) venom in the very 
heart? Spiritual sloth is but a scurvy in the 
mind; and carnal security.a mortal lethargy : 
and. how can that soul have true comfort that 
labours under’so many diseases : but converting 
grace cures, and so éases the mind: prepares 
the soul: for a settled standing, and immortal 
peace: “ Great peace have they that love thy 
commandments, and nothing shall offend, them,” 
Psalm cxix, 165; they are the ways of wis- 
dom that afford. pleasure and peace, Prov. iil, 
17. David had infinitely more pleasure in the 
word, than in all the delights of his court, Psalm 
exix, 103, 127. The conscience.-cannot be 
truly pacified till soundly purified, Heb. x, 22. 
Cursed is that peace that is maintained in the 


58 THE NECESSITY OF: CONVERSION. 


way of sin, Deut. xxix, 19, 20. ‘Two sorts 
of peace are more to be dreaded than all the 
troubles in the world, peace with sin, and peace 
in’ sin. | 
- Secondly, “ Thy hopes of ealnaticns hereafter 
are‘in vain, yea, worse than vain,” they are 
most injurious to God, most pernicious to thy- 
self. .'There is death, ‘separation, blasphemy, 
in the bowels of this hope. 1. There is death 
in it: “ Thy confidence shall be rooted out of 
thy tabernacles.” (God will up with it root and 
branch.) “It shall bring them to the king of 
terrors,” Job xviii, 14. ~ Though thou ‘mayest 
lean upon this house it will not” stand, Job viii, 
14, but will prove like a ruinous building, which 
when a man trusts to, falls down about his ears. 
2. There is desperation in it: “ Where is the 
hope of the hypocrite, when God takes away 
his soul?” Job-xxvii, 8; then there is an end 
for ever of this hope: indeed the hope of the 
righteous hath an end, but then it is not a de- 
structive, but a perfective end ; this hope ends 
in fruition, others in frostentianal Prov. x, 28. 
The godly must say at death, “It is finished ;” 
but the wicked, “ It is perished ; 2? and in too 
sad earnest hitnsdld as Job in a mistake ; where 
is now my hope? He hath destr oyed me, I 
am gone, and my hope is removed like a tree, 
Job xix, 10. 'The righteous hath hope nog 
death, Prov. xiv,33. - When nature is dying if 
hopes are living, when his ‘body is languis a 
his hopes are flourishing ; his hope is a living 
hope, 1 Pet. i, 3, but the other’s isa ll 


THE -NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 09 


damning, soul-undoing hope. “ When a wicked 
man dieth, his expectation shall perish, and 
the hope of unjust men perisheth,” Prov. xi, 7. 
“It shall be cut off,-and prove like the spider’s 
web,” Job viii, 14, which he ‘spins out of his 
own bowels; but then comes death with the 
broom and takes .down .all, and so there is 
an eternal end of his confidence wherein he. 
trusted ; “ For the eyes of the wicked shall 
fail, and their hope shall be as the giving up of 
the ghost,” Job xi, 20. Wicked men are fixed 
in their carnal hope, and will-not be beaten out 
of it; they hold it fast, they will not let it go; 
yea, but death will knock off all their fingers ; 
though we cannot undeceive them, death and 
judgment will: when death strikes- his dart 
through thy liver, it will pierce thy soul and 
hopes. together. ‘The unsanctified have hopes 
only in this life, 1 Cor. xv, 19, and therefore 
“are of all men most miserable.” Whendeath 
comes, it lets them-out into the amazing. gulf 
of endless desperation. -3..“ There is a. blas- 
phemy in it.” "To hope we shall be. saved, 
though we continue unconverted, is to hope we 
shall prove-God a liar. He hath told you, that 
so merciful and pitiful as_he is, he will never 
save you notwithstanding, if you go on in igno- 
rance or a_.course of Tih a store Isaiah 
xxvii, 11; 1. Cor. vi, 9.. In a word, he hath 
told you, ‘that whatever you be or do, nothing 
shall avail you to salvation, without. you “ be- 


" - gome new. creatures,” Gal. vi, 15. Now, to 


say God is merciful, and we hope will’save us 


60 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


nevertheless, is in effect to say, *“ We hope God 
will not do as he says.”” We must not set God’s 
attributes at variance ; God is resolved to glo- 
rify his mercy, but not to the prejudice of: his 
truth, as the presumptuous sinner will find to his 
everlasting SOTrow. 

Objection. Why, but we hope in Jesus Christ, 
we put our whole trust in God, and therefore 
doubt not but we shall be saved. 

Answer, 1. “This is not to hope in Christ 
but against Christ.” 'To hope to see the king- 
dom of God without being born again, to hope 
to find eternal life in the broad way, is to hope 
Christ will prove a false prophet. It is David’s 
plea, “I hope in thy word,” Psalm exix, 81, 
but this hope is against the word. _ Show me a 
word of Christ for thy hope, that he will save 
thee in thy ignorance or profane neglect of his 
service; and will never go to shake thy confi- 
po aspge 

2. “God doth: with abhorrence reject this 
hope.” ‘Those condemned in the prophet went 
on in their sins, yet, saith the text, They will 
lean upon the Lord,” Mic. iii, 11. God will 
not endure to be made a prop to men in their 
sins: the Lord rejected those presumptuous 
sinners that went on still in their trespasses, 
and yet could stay themselves upon Israel’s 
God, Isa. xviii, 1, 2, as a man should shake off 
the briers (as.one said well) that cleave to his 
on Gea - 

3. “If thy hope be any thing obits it will 
purify thee from thy sins,” 1 Johm iii, 3; but 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 61 


cursed is that hope that cherishes mien in their 
sins. 

Objection. Would you have us to despair ? 

Answer. “You must despair of ever. coming 
to heaven as you are, Acts 1, 37; that is, while 
you remain unconverted. You must despair of 
ever seeing the face of God without. holiness : 
but you must by no means: despair of finding 
mercy, upon your thorough repentance and 
conversion ; neither may you despair of attain- 
ing to repentance and conversion in the use of 
God’s means. 

Fifthly, “ Without this, all that God hath 
‘done and suffered, will be as to you in vain,” 
John’ xiii, 8; Titus ii, 14; ‘that -is, it will. no 
way avail-to your salvation. . Many urge this 
as a sufficient ground for their hopes, that Christ 
died for sinners ; but I must tell you, Christ 
never died to save impenitent and unconverted 
sinners, so continuing, 2 Tim. 11, 19. “A great 
divine was wont, in his private dealings. with 
souls, to ask two questions; Ist, What hath 
Christ. done for you? 2d, Whit hath Christ 
wrought in» you ? Without the application of 
the Spirit in regeneration, we can have no 
saving interest in the benefits of redemption. I 
tell you from the Lord, Christ himself cannot 
save you, if you go on in this state. 

1. It were-against his’ trust. ‘The Mediator 
is the servant of the father, Isa.-xlii, F.; shows 
his commission from him, acts in his name, and 
pleads his command for his justification, John 
x, 18, 26, and yi, 33,40; and God “has com- 


62 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


mitted all things unto him,” intrusted his own 
gloryand the salvation of souls with him, Matt. 
xil, 27 ; John xvii, 2. Accordingly Christ gives 
his Father’an account of both parts of his trust 
before he leaves the world; John xvii, 4, 6, 12. 
Now Christ would quite cross his. Father’s 
glory, his -greatest trust, if he should save men 
in their sins; for this were to overturn all his 
counsels, and to offer violence: to all his attri- 
butes. 

Fi inst, ‘To overturn all his pinteelial of 
which this is the order, that:men should be 
brought “through sanctification to salvation,” 

2 Thess..ui,-13. “He hath chosen them that 
mm should be holy,” Eph. i, 4. They are 
chosen to life through sanctification, 1 Pet. i, 2. 
If thou canst repeal the law of God’s immutable 
counsel, or corrupt him whom the. Father hath 
sealed, to go directly against his commission, 
then, and not otherwise, mayest thou get to 
heayen in this condition. To hope that Christ 
will save thee while unconverted, is to hope 
that Christ will falsify his trust. Be assured, 
Christ will save none in.a way hn tangy to his 
Father’s will.. 

a “To offer violence to all his attri. 
butes.” 1. “To -his justice;”? for the righte- 
ousness of God’s judgments lies in “ rendering 
to all according to their works,” Rom. ii, 5, 6. 
Now should men “sow to the flesh, and yet of 
the Spirit reap everlasting life,” Gal. vi, 7, 8, 
where were the glory of Divine justice, since it 
should be given to the wicked according to the 


THE NECESSITY OF ‘CONVERSION. 63 


work of the righteous? 2. “ 'To his’ holiness.” 
If God should not only save sinners, but save 
them in their sins, his most pure and strict holi- 
ness would. be exceedingly defaced: the un- 
sanctified is, in the. eyes of God’s holiness, 
worse than a.swine or viper, Matt. xii, 34; 2 
Pet. 11, 22. ..-It would be offering the eteticiiost 
violence to the infinite purity of “the Divine na- 
ture to have such to dwell with him; they can- 
not stand in his. judgment, * they cannot abide 
his presenee,” Psa. i, 5, and v, 4, 5. -If holy 
David would not-endure such in his house, no, 
nor his sight, Psa. exxxi, 3, 7, can we think 
God will? 3. “To his veracity.” For God 
hath declared from heaven, that “if any shall 
say he shall have peace, though he goon in:-the 
imagination of his heart, his wrath shall smoke 
against that man,” Deut. xxix, 19, 20; that 
“ they (only). that confess and forsake their sins 
shall find mercy,” Prov. xxviil,14 ;.that “they 
that shall enter into ‘his hill must be of clean 
hands. and a pure heart,” Psalm xxiv, 3, 4. 
Where were God’s truth, if, notwithstanding all 
this, he should bring men to salvation without 
conversion? O desperate sinner! that darest 
to hope that Christ will lie to his Father and — 
falsify his word to save thee.. 4. “To his wis- 
dom.” For this were to’throw away the choicest 
mercies on thém who would: not value.them, nor 
were any way suited to them. » : 
First, “They would not value them.” ©The 
impenitent sinner puts but litle price upon 
God’s- great ‘salvation, Matt..xxii, 5. He sets 


64 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


no more by Christ than the whole by the phy- 
sician, Matt. ix, 12. He prizes not his balm, 
values not his eure, tramples upon his blood, 
Heb. x, 29. Now would it stand with wisdom 
to force pardon. and life upon those who would 
give no thanks for them? Would the all-wise 
God, when he hath forbidden us'to do it, “ throw 
his holy things to dogs, and his pearls to swine, 
and would, as it were, but turn again and rend 
him?” Matt. vil,.6. This would: make-mercy 
to be despised indeed. Wisdom. requires that 
eternal life. be given in a way suitable to God’s 
honour, and that God should secure his. own 
glory as well as man’s felicity. God would lose 
the praise and glory of his grace, if he should 
cast it away on them that were nae only un- 
worthy but unwilling. 

» Secondly, “They are “noways suited to 
them.” ‘The Divine ‘wisdom: is seen suiting 
things to each other, the means to the end, the 
object to the faculty, the quality of ‘the gift to 
the capacity of the receiver. Alas! what should 
an unsanctified creature-do im heaven? He 
could take no content there, because nothing 
suits him; the place doth not suit him; he 
would be quite out of his element ; the company 
doth not suit him: “What communion hath 
darkness with light,” corruption with perfection, 
filth and rottenness with glory and immortality ? 
The employment. doth not suit him; the an- 
thems of heaven fit not his mouth, please not 
his ear. -Canst thou charm thy beast with mu- 
sic? Or wilt thou bring him to thy organ, and 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 65 


expect that he should make thee melody, or 
keep time with the tuneful choir? Spread thy 
tables with delicates before a languishing pa- 
tient, and it will give him great offence. Alas! 
if the poor man thinks the sermon long, and 
says of the Sabbath, “ What a weariness is it !” 
Mal. 1,.31 ; how miserable would he think it to 
be held to it to all eternity ? 

5. “ To his immutability, or else to his om- 
nisciency or omnipotency :” For this is enact- 
ed in the conclave of heaven, and enrolled in 
the decrees of the court above, that “ none but 
the pure in heart shall ever see God,” Matt. v, 
8. This is laid up with him, and sealed among 
his treasures. Now, if Christ yet bring any to 
heaven unconverted, either he must get them 
in without his Father’s knowledge, (and then 
where is his omnisciency ?) or against his will, 
(and then where is his omnipotency ?) or he 
must change his will, (and then where is his 
immutability 7) 

Sinner, wilt thou not give up thy vain hope 
of being saved in this condition? Saith Bildad, 
“ Shall the earth be forsaken for thee? or the 
rocks moved out of their place?” Job xviii, 4. 
May I not much more reason so with thee? 
Shall the laws of heaven be reversed for thee ? 
Shall the everlasting foundations be overturned 
for thee ? Shall Christ put out the eye of his 
Father’s omnisciency, or shorten the arm of his 
eternal power for thee? Shall Divine justice 
be violated for thee? Or the brightness of 
the glory of his holiness be blemished for thee ? 

5 


66 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


O the impossibility, absurdity, and blasphemy, 
that is in such a, confidence! To think Christ 
will ever save thee in this condition is to make 
thy Saviour to become a sinner, and to do more 
wrong to the infinite Majesty than all the wicked 
on earth, or devils in hell, ever did, or could do; 
and yet wilt thou not give up such a blasphemous 
hope ? . 

Il, “ Against his word.” Weneed not say, 
“ Who shall ascend into heaven, to bring down 
Christ from above? Or who shall descend into 
the deep, to bring up Christ from beneath ? 
The word is nigh us,” Rom. x, 6, 7, 8. Are 
you agreed that Christ shall end the controver- 
sy ? Hear then his own words: “ Except you 
be converted you shall in nowise enter into 
the kingdom of heaven,” Matt. xviii, 3. .“ You 
must be born again,” John ui, 7.“ If 1 wash 
thee not, thou hast no part in me,” John xii, 8. 
“ Repent or perish,” Luke xii, 3. One word, 
one would think, were enough from Christ, but 
how often and earnestly doth he reiterate it! ’ 
“ Verily, verily, except a man be-born again, 
he shall not see the kingdom of God,” John iii, — 
3,5. Yea, he doth not only assert, but prove 
the necessity of the new birth, John iii, 6; 
without which man is no more fit for the king- — 
dom of heaven than a beast is for the king’s 
presence chamber. And wilt thou yet believe 
thy own presumptuous confidence, directly 
against Christ’s words? He must go quite 
against the law of his kingdom and rule of his 
judgment, to save thee in this state. 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 67 


Til. “ Against his oath.” He hath lifted up 
his hand to heaven, he hath sworn that those 
that remain in unbelief, and know not his ways, 
that is, are ignorant of them, or disobedient to 
them, “ shall not enter into his rest,” Psalm xcv, 

1;. Heb. iii, 11... And wilt thou not yet be- 
lieve, O sinner, that he 1s in earnest ? Canst thou 
hope he will be forsworn for thee ? The cove- 
nant of grace is confirmed by an oath, and sealed 
by the blood, Heb. vi, 17, and ix, 16, 18, 19; 
Matt. xxvi, 28; but all must be made void, and 
another way to heaven found out, if thou be 
saved living and dying unsanctified. Men can- 
not be saved while.unconverted, except they 
could get-another covenant made, and the whole 
frame of the Gospel, which was established for 
ever with such dreadful solemnities, quite altered: 
and would not they be distracted to hope that 
they shall ? 

IV. “« Against his honour.” God willso show 
his love to the sinner, as withal to show his ha- 
tred to sin; peers hint “ he that names the name 
of Jesus must depart from iniquity,” 2 Tim. i, 
19, and deny all ungodliness. “And he that hath 
hope of life by Christ, must “ purify himself as 
he is pure,” 1 John ni, 3; Tit. ii, 12; other- 
wise Christ would be thought a favourer of sin. 
The Lord Jesus would have-all the world to 
know, that though he pardons sin, he will not 
protect it. If holy David shall say, “ Depart 
from me, all ye workers of iniquity,” Psa. vi, 8, 
ts shall shut the doors against them, Psalm 
ci, 7; shall not such much more expect it from 


68 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


Christ’s holiness? Would it be to his honour to 
have the dogs to the table, or lodge the swine 
with his children, or to have Abraham’s bosom 
to be a nest of vipers? — 

V. “ Against his offices.” God hath exalted 
him “to be a Prince and a Saviour,” Acts v, 31. 
He would act against both, should he save men 
in their sins: it is the-office of a king “ to be 
a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that 
do well,” Rom. xiii, 3, 4. “ He is a minister of 
God, a revenger to execute wrath on him that 
doeth evil.” Now, should Christ favour the un- 
godly, (so continuing,) and take those to reign 
with him “ that would not that he should reign 
over them,” Luke xix, 27; this would be quite 
against his office. He therefore reigns that 
he may ‘ put his enemies under his feet,”— | 
1 Cor. xv, 25. Now, should he lay them in his 
bosom, he would cross the end of his regal 
power: it belongs to Christ, as a king, to sub- 
due the hearts and slay the lusts of his people, 
Psalm xlv, 5, and cx, 3. What king would take 
rebels in open hostility into his court! What 
were this but to betray life, kingdom, govern- 
ment, and all together? If Christ be a king, he 
must have honour, homage, subjection, &c., 
Mal. i, 6. Now to save men while in their 
natural enmity, were to obscure his dignity, 
lose his authority, bring contempt on his go- 
vernment, and sell his dear-bought rights for 
nought. 

Aeain : as’Christ would. not be a Prince, so 
neither a Saviour, if he should do this ; for his 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 69 


salvation is. spiritual: he is called Jesus, ‘be- 
' cause he saves his people from their sins, Matt. 
i, 21 ; so that should he save them in their sins, 
he would neither be Lord nor Jesus. To save 
men from the punishment, and not from the 
power of sin, were to do his work by halves, 
and be animperfect Saviour. -His office, as the 
deliverer, is “to turn away ungodliness from 
Jacob,” Romans xi, 26. He “is. sent to bless 
men in turning ther from their iniquities,” Acts 
iii, 26. “ To make an end of sin,” Dan. ix, 25, 
so that he should destroy his own designs, and 
nullify his offices, to save men abiding in their 
unconverted state. 
Arriication. Arise then: what meanest 
thou, O sleeper! Awake, O secure sinner ! lest 
thou be consumed in thine iniquities; say as 
the lepers, “‘ If we sit here we shall die,” 2 Kings 
vii, 3,4. Verily, it -is not more certain that 
thou art now out of hell, than that thou shalt 
speedily be in-it,; except thou repent and be 
converted ;. there is but this one door for thee to 
escape by. Arise then, O sluggard, and shake 
off thine excuses ; how long wilt thou slumber, 
and fold thy hands to sleep? Prov. vi, 10, 11. 
Wilt thou lie down in the midst of the sea, or 
sleep on the top of the mast? Prov. xxiii, 34. 
There is no remedy, but thou must either turn 
or burn. There is an unchangeable necessity 
of the change of thy condition, except thou art 
resolved to abide the worst of it, and try it out 
with the Almighty. Ifthou lovest thy life, O 
man, arise and come away. Methinks I see 


70 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


the Lord Jesus laying the merciful hands of a 
holy violenee upon thee ; methinks he carries it 
like the angels to Lot, Genesis xix, 15, &c.— 
“Then the angels hastened, Lot, saying, Arise, 
lest thou be consumed. And while he lingered, 
the men laid hold upon his hand, the Lord being 
merciful’ unto him, and brought him without 
the city, and said, Escape for thy life, stay not 
in all the plain, escape to the mountains, lest 
thou be consumed.” 

O, how wilful will thy destruction be, if thou 
shouldst yet harden thyself in thy sinful state ! 
But none of you can say but you have had fair 
warning. Yet methinks I cannot tell how to 
leave you so. It is not enough for me to have 
delivered my own soul. What! shall go away 
without my errand ? Will none of you arise and 
follow me? Have I been all this while speak- 
ing to the wind? Have I been charming the 
deaf adder, or allaying the troubled ocean with 
arguments? Dol speak to the trees and rocks, 
orto men? ‘To the tombs and monuments of 
the dead, or to a living auditory? -If you be 
inen, and not senseless stocks,.stand still’ and 
consider whither you are going: if you have 
the reason and understanding of men, dare not 
to run into the flames, and fall into hell with 
your eyes open, but bethink yourselves, and 
set to the work of repentance. What! men,. 
and yet run into the pit, when the very beasts 
would not be forced in!: What, endowed with 
reason, and yet dally with death and hell, and 
the vengeance of the Almighty ! Are men herein 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 71 


distinguished from the very brutes, that they 
have no foresight of and care to provide for 
the things to come: and will you not hasten 
your escape from eternal torments? O! show 
yourselves men, and let reason prevail with 
you : is it a reasonable thing for you to “ con- 
tend against the Lord your Maker?” Isa. xiv, 
9, or to harden yourselves against his word,” 
Job ix, 4, as though“ the Strength of Israel 
would lie?” 1 Sam. xv, 29. Is it reasonable 
that an understanding creature should lose, 
yea, live quite against the very end of his be- 
ing, and be as a broken pitcher only fit for the 
dunghill? Is it reasonable that the only thing 
in this world that God hath made capable of 
knowing his will, and bringing him glory, should 
yet live in ignorance of his Maker, and_ be un- 
serviceable to his use? Yea, should be engaged 
against him, and spit his venom in the face of 
his Creator? “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, 
O earth,” and let the creatures without sense 
be judge if this be reason, that man whom God 
hath “nourished and brought up, should rebel 
against him,” Isaiah i, 2. Judge in your own 
selves: is it a reasonable undertaking for briers 
and thorns to set themselves in battle against 
the devouring fire? Isaiah xxvii, 4, or for the 
potsherd of the earth to strive with its Maker ? 
You will say, This is not reason, or surely the 
eye of reason is quite put out: andif this be not 
reason, then there is no reason that you should 
continue as you are, but it is all the reason in 
the world you should forthwith turn and repent. 


72 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 


What shall I say ? I could spend myself in 
this argument. O that you would hearken to 
me! ‘hat you would presently set upon a new 
course! Will you be made clean?. when shall 
it once be? What! will nobody be persuaded ? 
Reader, shall I prevail with thee for one? wilt 
thou sit down and consider the forementioned 
argument, and debate it, whether it be not best 
to turn: come, and let us reason together: is 
it. good fur thee to be here? wilt thou sit till 
the tide. comes in upon thee? is it good for 
thee to try whether God will be so good as his 
word, and to harden thyself in a conceit that all 
is well with thee while thou remainest unsanc- 
tified ? 

But [ know you will not be persuaded, but 
the greatest part will be as they have been and 
do as they have done. I know the drunkard 
will turn to his vomit.again, and the deceiver to 
his deceit again, and the lustful wanton to his 
dalliance again. Alas! that I must leave you 
where you were, in your ignorance or looseness, 
or in your lifeless formality and customary de- 
votions! However, I will sit down and bemoan 
my fruitless labours, and spend some sighs over 
my perishing hearers. 

O distracted sinners! What will their. end 
be? What will they do in the day of visitation ? 
« Whither will they flee for help? Where will 
they leave their glory ?” Isa. x, 3. How pow- 
erfully hath sin bewitched them! how effectu- 
ally hath the god of this world blinded them! 
how strong is the delusion ! how uncircumcised 


THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 73 


their ears! how obdurate their hearts! Satan 
hath them at his beck. But how long may I 
call, andcan get no answer? I may dispute with 
them year after year, and they will give me the 
hearing, and that is all; they must and will have 
their sins, say what I will; though I tell them 
there is death in the cup ; yet they will take it 
up; though I tell them it is the broad way, and 
endeth in destruction, yet they will go on in it; 
I warn them, yet cannot win them. Sometimes 
I think the mercies of God will melt them, and 
his winning invitations will overcome them ; but 
I find them as they were: sometimes that the 
terror of the Lord will persuade them; yet 
neither will this do. They will approve the 
word, like the sermon, commend the preacher, 
but they will yet live as they did. They will 
not deny me, and yet they will not obey me. 
They will flock to the word of God, and sit 
_ before me as his people, and hear my words, 
but they will not do them. They value and 
will plead for. ministers, and, 1 am to them as 
the lovely song of one that hath a pléasant 
voice, yet I cannot get them to come under 
Christ’s yoke. ‘They love me, and will be ready 
to say they will do any thing for me; but, for 
my life, I cannot persuade them_to leave their 
sins, to forego their evil company, their intem- 
perance, their unjust gains, &c. I cannot pre- 
vail with them to set up prayer in their families, 
and closets, yet they will promise me, like the 
froward son, that said, “I go, sir, but went not,” 
Matt. xxi,30. I cannot persuade them to learn 


74 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


the principles of religion, though else, “ they 
would die without knowledge,” Job xxxvi, 12. 
I tell them their misery, but they will not believe 
but it is well enough: if I tell them particularly, 
I fear for such reasons their estate is bad, they 
will judge me censorious ; or if they be at pre- 
sent a little awakened, are quickly lulled asleep 
by Satan again, and have lost the sense of all. 

Alas, for my poor hearers! Must they perish 
at last by hundreds, when ministers would so 
fain save them? What course shall I use with 
them, that I have not tried? “ What shall I do 
for the daughter of my people?” Jer. ix, 7. O 
Lord God, help. Alas ! shall I leave them thus ? 
If they will not hear me, yet do thou hear me: O 
that they may yet live in thy sight! Lord, save 
them, or else they perish. My heart would melt 
to see their houses on fire about their ears, when 
they were fast asleep in their beds ; and shall not 
my soul be moved within me to see them falling 
into endless perdition? Lord, have compassion, 
and save them out of the burning; put forth 
thy Divine power, and the work will be done : 
but as for me, I cannot prevail. . 


CHAPTER IV. 
Showing the marks of the unconverted. 


WuttE we keep aloof in general, there is little 
fruit to be expected ; it is the hand fight that doth 


THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 75 


execution. David is not awakened by the pro- 
phet’s hovering at a distance in parabolical. in- 
sinuations ; he is forced to close with him, and 
tell him plainly, “ Thou art the man.”’ Few. will 
in words deny the necessity of the new birth, 
but they have a self-deluding confidence that 
the work is not. now to do. And because they 
know themselves free from that gross hypocrisy 
which takes up religion merely for a colour to 
deceive others, and for covering of wicked de- 
signs, they are confident of their sincerity, and 
suspect not that more close hypocrisy (wherein 
the greatest danger lies,) by which a man de- 
ceiveth his own soul, James 1, 26.. But man’s 
deceitful heart is such a matchless cheat and 
self-delusion, so reigning and. so fatal a disease, 
that I know not whether. be the greater, the 
difficulty, disagreeableness, or the necessity of 
the undeceiving work that Iam now upon. Alas, 
for my unconverted hearers! "They must be 
undeceived or undone. But how shall this be 
effected ? , 

“Help, O all-searching Light, and let thy 
discerning eye discover the rotten foundation of 
the self-deceiver ; and lead me, O Lord God, 
as thou didst the prophet, into the chambers of 
imagery, and dig through the wall of sinners’ 
hearts, and discover the hidden abominations 
that are lurking out of sight in the dark. O send 
thy angel before me, to open the sundry wards 
of their hearts, as thou didst before Peter, and 
make even the iron gates to fly open of their 
own accord. And, as Jonathan no sooner tasted 


76 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


the honey but his eyes were enlightened ; so 
grant, O Lord, that when the poor deceived 
souls, with whom I have to do, shall cast their 
eyes upon these lines, their minds may be illu- 
minated, and their consciences convinced and 
awakened, that they may see with their eyes, 
and hear with their ears, and be converted, and 
thou mayest heal them.” 

This must be premised before we proceed to 
the discovery, that it is most certain men may 
have a confident persuasion that their hearts 
and states be good, and yet be unsound. Hear 
the Truth himself, who shows in Laodicea’s 
case, that men may be “ wretched, and misera- 
ble, and poor, and blind, and naked? and yet 
not know it; yea, they may be confident they 
are “rich, and increased in grace,” Rev. iui, 17. 
“There is a generation that are pure in their 
own eyes, and yet are not washed from their 
filthiness,” Proy. xxx, 12. Who better persuaded 
of his case than Paul, while he yet remained un- 
converted? Rom. vii, 9. So that they are mise- 
rably deceived that take a strong confidence for 
a sufficient evidence.. They that have no better 
proof than barely a strong persuasion that they 
are converted, are certainly as yet strangers to 
conversion. 

But to come more close; as it was said of 
the adherents to antichrist, so here; some of 
the unconverted carry their marks in their fore- 
heads, more openly, and some in their hands, 
more covertly. ‘The apostle reckons up some 
upon whom he writes the sentence of death ; 


THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED., 177, 


as in these dreadful catalogues, which I beseech 
you to attend to with all diligence: Eph. v, 5 

6, “ For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor 
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an 
idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom 
of Christ andof God. Let no man deceive you 
with vain words, for because of these things 
cometh the wrath of God upon the children of 
disobedience.” Rev. xxi, 8, “ But the fearful, 
and unbelieving, and abominable, and murder. 
ers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idol- 
aters, and all liars, shall have their part in the 
lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which 
is the second death.” 1 Cor. vi, 9, 10, “ Know 
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the 
kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither 
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor 
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with man. 
kind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, 
nor revilers, nor’ extortioners, shall inherit the 
kingdom of God.” See Galatians v, 19-21. Wo 
to them that have their names written in these 
black rolls ; such may know,.as certainly as if 
God had told them from heaven, that they are 
unsanctified, and under an impossibility of being 
saved in this condition. 

There are then these several sorts that (past 
all dispute) are. unconverted ; they carry their 
marks in their foreheads. 

1. The unclean. These are ever reckoned 
among the goats, and have their names, whoever 
is left out, in all the before-mentioned catalogues, 
Eph. v, 5; Rey. xxi, 8; 1 Cor. vi, 9, 10. 


78 $$ THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


2. The covetous. 'These are ever branded fo1 
adolaters, and the doors of the kingdom are shut 
against them by name, Eph. v, 5; Col. ili, 5; 
1 Cor. vi, 6, 10. 

3. Drunkards. Not only such as drink away 
their reason, but withal (yea above all) such as 
are too strong even for strong drink : the Lord 
fills his mouth with woes against these, and de- 
clares they “have no inheritance in the kingdom 
of God,” Isa. v, 11, 12, 22; Gal. v, 21. 

4. Liars. The God'that cannot lie has told 
them that there is no place for them in his king- 
dom, no entrance into his hill; but their portion 
is with the father of lies, whose children they 
are, in the lake of burnings, Psa. xv, 1,2; Rev. 
xxi, 8,27; John viii, 44; Prov. vi, 17, 

5. Swearers. The end of these, without deep 
and speedy repentance, is swift destruction, and 
most certain and unavoidable condemnation, Jas. 
v, 12; Zech. v, 1, 2, 3. 

6. Racia and Baclbucare, that love to take 
up a reproach against their neyhbour, and fling 
all the dirt they can in his face, or else wound 
him secretly behind his back, Psalm xy, 1, 3 ; 
1 Cor. vi, 10, and v, 11. 

iF Thieées, extortioners, and oppressors, that 
grind the poor, overreach their brethren when 
they have them at an advantage; these must 
know that “God is the avenger of all such,” 
1 Thess. iv, 6. Hear, O ye false, and purloin- 
ing, and wasteful servants ; hear, O ye deceit- 
ful tradesmen; hear your sentence: God will 
certainly hold his door against you, and turn 


+ 


THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 79 


your treasures of unrighteousness into treasures 
of. wrath, and make your ill-gotten silver and 
gold to torment you, like burning metal in your 
bowels, 1 Cor. vi, 9,10; James-vi, 2, 3. . 

8. “ All that do ordinarily live in the profane 
neglect of God’s worship ;” that hear not his 
word, that call not on his name, that.restrain 
prayer before God, that mind not their own nor 
their families’ souls, but “live without God in the 
world,” John: viii, 47; Job xv, 4; Psa. xiv, 4, 
and Ixxix, 6; Eph. ii, 12, and iv, 18. 

9. “Those that are frequenters and lovers of 
company.” God has declared he ‘will be the 
destroyer of all such, and that they shall never 
enter into the hill of his rest, Prov. xiii, 20, and 
-1x, 6; Psalm xv, 4. 

10. Scoffers at religion, that make a scorn of 
precise walking,and mock at the messengers 
and diligent servants of the Lord, and at their 
holy profession, and make themselves merry with 
the weakness and failings of professors. Hear, 
ye despisers, your dreaded doom, Prov. xix, 29, 
and iii, 34; 2 Chron. xxxvi, 16. 

Sinner, consider diligently whether thou art 
not to be found in one of these ranks; for if 
this be thy case, “thou art in the gall of bitter- 
ness and bond of iniquity ;” for all these do 
carry their marks in their foreheads, and are 
undoubtedly the sons of death. And if so, the 
Lord pity our poor congregations! O how small 
a number will be left when these ten sorts are 
taken out! Alas! on how many doors, on how 
many faces, must we write, “ Lord, have mercy 


80 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


onus?” Sirs, what shift do you make to keep 
up your confidence of your good state, when 
God from heaven declares against and pro. 
nounces you in a state of damnation? I would 
reason with you as God with them, “ How canst 
thou say, I am not polluted?” Jer. 11, 23. “See 
thy way in the valley, know what thou hast 
done.”’ Man, is not thy conscience privy to thy 
tricks of deceit, to thy chamber pranks, to thy 
way of lying? Yea,are not thy friends, thy family, 
thy neighbours, witness to thy profane neglect 
of God’s worship, to thy covetous practices, to 
thy envious and malicious carriage? May they 
not point at thee as thou goest, There goes a 
gaming prodigal; there goes a drunken Nabal, 
a companion of evil doers ; there goes a railer, 
a scoffer, or a loose liver. Beloved, God hath 
written it with a sunbeam in the book by which 
you must be judged, that these are not the spots 
of his children, and that none such, except re- 
newed by converting grace, shall ever escape 
the damnation of hell. 

O that such as. you would now be persuaded 
to “repent and turn from all-your' transgres- 
sions, or else iniquity will be your ruin !” Ezek. 
xviii, 30. Alas, for poor hardened sinners !— 
Must I leave you at last where you were? Must 
I leave the tippler still at the ale bench? Must 
I leave the wanton still at his dalliance? Must 
I leave the malicious still in his venom, and the 
drunkard still at his vomit ? However, you must 
know that you have been warned, and that] am 
clear of your blood. And “ whether men will 


THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 81 


hear, or whether they will forbear,” I\will leave 
the Scriptures with them, either as thunderbolts 
to awaken them, or as-searing irons to harden 
them toa reprobate sense. Psalm: Ixviii, 21, 
“ God. shall wound the head. of his enemies, 
and the hairy scalp of such a one as gone: on 
still in -his trespasses.” . Prov. xxix, 1,..“ He 
that being often reproved, hardeneth: his neck, 
shall suddenly .be destroyed, and that- without 
remedy.’ Chap. i, 24, &c., “ Because I have 
called and ye refused, I have stretched out my 
hand, and-no man regarded, &c. I will mock at 
your calamity, when: your destruction cometh as 
a whirlwind.” 

And now [ imagine many will begin to bless 
themselves, and think all is well because they 
cannot be charged with the grosser evils: before 
mentioned; but I. must farther tell you, that 
there are another sort of unsanctified persons, 
that carry not their marks in their. foreheads ; 
but more secretly and covertly in’ their hands; 
these do frequently deceive themselves and 
others, and pass for good Christians, when they 
are all the while unsound at bottom. Many 
pass undiscovered till death and judgment bring 
all to light... Those self-deceivers seem to come 
even ‘to heaven’ s.gate with full. confidence of 
their admission, and yet are shut out at last, 
Matt. vil, 22. 

Brethren beloved, I beseech you deeply to 
lay to heart,.and firmly retain, this. awakening 
consideration, that multitudes miscarry_ by che- 
rishing some secret sin, that is not only hidden 

| 6 


82 THR MARKS OF THR UNCONVFRTED. 
from others, but, for want of. searching their own 
hearts, even from themselves. A man may be 
free from open pollutions, and yet perish at last 
by some secret unobserved iniquity. And there 
be these twelve hidden sins. through which souls 
go down by numbers into the chambers of death ; 
these you must search carefully for, and note 
them as black marks, wherever they. be found, 
discovering a graceless and. unconverted state. 
And as you love your lives, read carefully with 
a holy jealousy of yourselves, lest you should be 
sh persons: concerned. 

1. “ Gross ignorance.” 0 how many-poor 
souls doth this sin kill in the dark ! Hos. iv, 6 ; 
while they think verily they have -good hearts, 
and are in the ready way to heaven!, This is 
the murderer that despatches thousands in a 
silent manner, when, poor hearts! they suspect 
nothing, and see not the hand that destroys 
them. You shall find,- whatever excuses you 
have for ignorance, that it is a ep ae ted 
evil, Isa. xxvii, 11 ; 2 Thess. i, 8 ; 2 Cor. iv, 3 
Ah! would it not have grieved a man’s ‘heart 
to have: seen that woful spectacle, when the 
poor Protestants were shut up, a multitude 

together, in a barn, anda butcher comes with 
er ‘uel hands, warmed in human blood, and leads 
them one by. one, blindfold, to a block “where 
he slew them, poor innocents! one after ano- 
ther, by scores, in cold blood! But how much 
more should your. hearts bleed to think of the 
hundreds in great congregations that ignorance 
doth butcher in secret, and lead blindfold to the 


- 


THN MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 83 


block? Beware. this be none of your cases. 
Make no plea for ignorance ; if you spare that 
sin, know that it will not spare you ; and would 
a man take a murderer to his bosom? 

2. “Secret reserves in closing with Christ.” 
To forsake all for Christ, to “hate father and 
mother, yea, a man’s own life,” for him, “ This 
is a hard saying,” Luke xiy, 26. Some will do 
much, but they will not be of the religion that 
will undo them ; they never come tobe entirely. 
devoted to ‘Christ, nor fully to resign to him: 
they must have the sweet sin; they mean to 
do themselves no harm; ‘they have secret ex- 
ceptions, for life, liborty, or estate. Many take 
Christ thus, hand over head, and never consi- 
der his. self-denying terms, nor cast up the 
‘cost ; and this error in the foundation mars all, 
and secr etly ruins them for ever, Luke xiv, 28 ; 
ee V1, 2° =< 

3. “Formality in religion.” Many stick in 
the dark, and rest in the outside.of religion, and 
in the external performances of holy duties, 
Matt. xxiii, 25, and this oftentimes. doth most 
effectually deceive men, and doth more cer tainly 
undo them than open, looseness, as. it was in the 
Pharisee’s case,- Matt. XXIU), 31. ‘They hear, 
they fast, they pray, they give alms, and there- 
fore will mot believe but their case is good, Luke 
XVill, é ol: ~whereas, resting in the work done, 
and coming short of heart 1 work, and the inward 
power and life of religion, they fall at last into 
the burning, from the flattering hopes and con- 
fident persuasions of thou being i in the ready 


84 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


way to heaven, Matt. yli, 22, 23.. O dreadful 
case, when a man’s religion shall’ serve only to 
harden: him, and effectually to delude and de- 
nl his own soul! 

4,.%~ The prevalence - of false. ends in holy 
duties,” Matt. xxiii, 25. . This was the bane of 
the Pharisee. .-O how many .poor souls are 
undone by this, and drop into hell before. they 
discern their mistake! They perform good du- 
ties, and so think all is well ; but perceive not 
that they are actuated by carnal motives all the 
while. When the main thing that doth ordina- 
rily carry a man out to religious. duties shall 
be really some carnal end, as to satisfy his con- 
science, to get the repute of being religious, 
“to be seen of men,” to show his own gifts 
and parts, to avoid the reproach. of being a pro. 
fane and irreligious person, or the ae : this 
discovers an unsound. heart, Hos. x, 1; Zech. 
vii, -3,.6. O professor! if you would avoid 
self-deceit, see that you mind not only your 
acts, but withal, yea, above.all, your ends. 

5. “Trusting in your own righteousness,” 
Luke xviii,9. Thisisa soul-undoing mischief, 
Rom. x, 8. When men do trust in their own 
righteousness they. do indeed reject Christ’s. 
Beloved, you had need be watchful on every 
hand: for not only your sins but r duties 
may undo you. It may be you agvangeaan 
of this : but so it is, that a man may as certain- 
ly miscarry by his seeming righteousness and 
supposed. graces, as by gross sins; and that is, 
when a man doth trust in these as his righteous- 


THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 85 


ness before God, for the sanctifying his justice, 
appeasing ‘his wrath, procuring his favour, and 
obtaining of his own pardon; for this is to put 
Christ out. of. office, and make a saviour of our 
own duties and‘ graces. Beware of this, O pro- 
fessors! You are much in duties: but ‘this 
one fly will spoil all the ointment... When you 
have done most and best, be sure to go out of 
yourselves to Christ, Psa. cxlii,-2; Phil. iii, De 
Isa. lxiv, 6;. Neh, xiii, 22. = ot 

i Ra. © secret enmity. against the strictness-of 
religion.” Many moral persons; punctual to 
their formal devotion, have a bitter enmity against 
preciseness, and hate the life and power of reli- 
gion, Phil. .in, 6, compared with Acts ix, I. 
They like not this forwardness, nor that ‘men 
should keep such a stir in religion; they condemn 
the strictness of religion as singularity, indiscre- 
tion, andintemperate zeal; and with themalively 
preacher ora lively Chr istian, is but a heady fel- 
low. . These men love not holiness as holiness, 
for then they would love the height of holiness, 
and therefore are undoubtedly rotten at heart, 
whatever good opinion they have of themselves. 

7. “ The-resting in a certain’ pitch of reli- 
gion.” When they have so much as will save 
them (as they suppose) they look no farther, and 
so show themselves short of true grace, which 
will ever put-‘men upon aspiring to farther per 
fection, Phil. iii, 13 ; Prov. iv, 18. 

8. “ The predominant love of the world.” 
This is the sure evidence of an unsanctified 
heart, Morc$, 9231. ant ii, 15. ~ / 


86 THE MARKS. OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


. But how close doth this sin lurk oftentimes 
under the fair covert of forward profession ? 
Luke viii, 14. Yea, such a power. of deceit is 
there in this sin, that many times, when. every 
‘body else can see the man’s worldliness and 
covetousness, he cannot see it himself, but hath 
somany colours, and excuses, ‘and pretences 
for his eagerness on the world, that he doth 
blind his own eyes, and perish in his self-deceit. 
How many professors. be there, with whom the 
world hath more of their hearts and-affections 
than Christ : “who mind earthly things,” and 
thereby are evidently after the flesh, and like 
to end in destruction! Rom, vii, 5 ;° Phil. iii, 
19. Yet ask these men, and they will tell you 
confidently they prize-Christ above all; God 
forbid else !-and see not their own earthly mind- 
edness, for want ofa narrow observation of the 
working of their own hearts. Did they but 
carefully search, they would quickly find that 
their greatest content is in the world, Luke xii, 
19, and their greatest care and main‘endeavour 
is to get and secure the world; which ‘are the 
certain discoveries of an unconverted sinner. 
May the professing part of the world take earnest 
heed that they perish not by the hand’of ‘this 
sin, unobserved. Men may be, and often ars 
kept off from Christ as effectually by the inordi- 
nate love of lawful comforts, as by the most 
unlawful courses; Matt. xii, 5; Luke xiv, 10, 24. - 

9. “Reigning malice and envy against those 
that disrespect them, and are injurious to them,” 
1 John ii, 9, 11. O how do many that seem 


THE MARKS. OF THE UNCONVERTED. 87 


to be religious, remember injuries and carry 
grudges, and will return men as good as they 
bring, rendering evil for evil, loving to take re- 
venge, wishing evil to them that wrong them, 
directly against the rule of the Gospel, the pat- 
tern of Christ, and the nature of God, Rom. 
xii, 14, 17.; 1 Peter ii, 21, 23; Neh. ix, 17.— 
Doubtless where this evil is kept boiling in.the 
heart, and is not hated, resisted, mortified, but 
doth habitually prevail, that person is in the 
very gall of bitterness, and ina state of death, 
Matt. xyiii, 34, 85; 1 John iii, 14, 15. 

Reader, doth nothing of this touch thee ?— 
Art thou in none of the fore-mentioned ranks ? 
O search, and search again; take thy heart 
solemnly to task; wo unto thee,.if after thy 
profession thou shouldest be found under the 
power of ignorance, lost in formality, drowned 
in earthly mindedness, envenomed with malice, 
exalted in an opinion of thine own righteousness, 
leavened with hypocrisy and carnal ends. in 
God’s service, embittered against strictness ; 
this would be a sad discovery that all thy reli- 
gion were in yain. -But I must proceed.’ 

10. “ Unmortified pride.” When men love 
the praise of men more than the praise of God, 
and set their hearts. upon. men’s. esteem, ap- 
plause, and approbation; it is most certain they 
are yet in their sins, and strangers to true con- 
version, John xii, 43; Gal. 1,10. O how se- 
cretly doth this sin live and_reign in many 
hearts, but they. know it not, but are very stran- 
gers to themselves! John ix, 40. 


88 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


11. “The prevailing love of pleasure,” 2'Tim. 
iii,4, This isa black mark.. When men give 
the flesh the liberty that it craves, and pamper 
and please it, and do not deny and restrain it ; 
when their great delight isin gratifying their 
bellies and pleasing their senses ;——whatever 
appearances they may have of religion, all is 
unsound, Rom. xvi, 18; Tit. iii, 3.. “A flesh- 
pleasing life cannot be pleasing to God. “They 
that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh,” and 
are careful to cross it and keep it under as their 
enemy, Gal. v, 24; 1 Cor. ix, 25;.27. 

12. “ Carnal security, or a presumptuous 
ungrounded confidence that their condition is 
already good,” Rev. iii, 16. Many cry, peace 
and safety, when sudden destruction is coming 
upon them, 1 Thess. v, 3; this was that which 
kept the foolish virgins sleeping when they 
should have been working ; upon their beds 
when they should have been at the markets, 
Matt. xxv, 5, 10; Prov. x, 5. They perceived 
not their want of oil till the bridegroom was 
come; and while they went to buy, the door 
was shut. And, O that these foolish virgins 
had no gbesebord - Where is the place, yea, 
where is the house almost, where these do not 
dwell? Men are’ willing to cherish in them- 
selves, upon ever so light grounds, a hope that 
their condition is good, and so look not out 
afier a change, and by this means perish in their 
sins. Are-you at peace? Show me upon what 
grounds your peace is maintained, Is it Scrip- 
ture peace 7? Can you show the distinguishing 


THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 89 


marks of a sound believer ?. Can you evidence 
that you have-something more ‘than ‘any hypo- 
crite in the world ever had? If not, fear this 
peace more than any trouble ; and know, that 
a carnal peace -doth commonly prove the most 
mortal enemy of the poor soul; -and_ while it 
smiles, and kisses, and speaks fait) doth fatally 
smite it, as it were, under the fifth rib. 

By this time, methinks, I hear my readers 
crying out with the disciples, “ Who then shall 
be saved?” Set out from among our congrega- 
tions all those ten ranks of the profane on one 
hand, and then beside, take out all the twelve 
sorts of close and self-deceiving hypocrites on 
the other hand, and tell me then whether it be 
nota remnant that shall be saved: How few 
will. be the sheep that shall be: left when all 
these shall be separated. and set among the 
goats! For my part, of all. my numerous 
hearers, I have no hope to see any of them in 
heaven, that are to be found among these two 
and twenty sorts that are here mentioned, ex- 
cept by sound conversion Ce, are brought into 
another condition. 

AppuicaTion. -And now, Gonséténce, do thy 
office: speak out and speak home to him that 
heareth or readeth these lines. If thou find 
any of these marks upon him, thou must pro- 
nounce him utterly unclean, Ley. viii, 44.— 
Take not up alie into thy mouth, speak not 
peace to him to whom God~ speaks no peace ; 
let not lust. bribe” thee, ‘or ‘sclf-love, or carnal 
prejudice, blind thee. I subpoena thee from the 


90 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


court of héaven to come and give.in evidence : 
I require thee in the name of God:to go with 
me to'the search of the suspected- house. As 
thou wilt answer it at thy peril, give ina true 
report of the state and case of him that readeth 
this book. , Conscience,.wilt thou altogether 
hold thy peace at such a time at this? I adjure 
thee by the living God~ that thou tell us the 
truth, Matt. xxvi, 63. Is the man converted, 
or is he not? Doth he allow himself in any way 
of sin, or doth he not? Doth he truly love, and 
please, and ‘prize, and delight in God above all 
other things, or not? Come, put it to an issue. 
How long: shall this soul live at uncertain- 
ties? O conscience, bring in thy verdict. Is 
this man a new man, or is he not? How dost 
thou findit ? Hath there passed a thorough and 
mighty change upon, him, or not? When was 
the time, where was the place, or what were the 
means by which this’ thorough change of the 
new birth was wrought in his soul? Speak, 
conscience; or if thou canst not tell time and 
place, canst thou show Scripture evidence that 
the work is done? Hath the man been ever 
taken.off from his false bottom, from the false 
hopes and false peace. wherein once he trusted ? 
Hath he been deeply convinced of sin, and.of 
his lost and undone condition,.and brought out 
of himself, and off from his sins, to give up him-. 
self entirely to Jesus Christ? Or, dost thou not 
find him to this very day under the power of 
ignorance, or in the mire of profaneness? Hast 
thou not found upon him the gains. of unright- 


THE MARKS OF ‘THE’ UNCONVERTED. | 91 


eousness ?. Dost thou not find him a stranger to 
prayer, a heglecter of the word, a lover of this 
present world ?. Dost thou not often catch him 
in a lie? Dost thou not find his heart fermented 
with malice, or burning with lust, or going after 
‘his covetousness ? Speak plainly to all the fore- 
mentioned particulars : canst thou. acquit this 
man, this woman, from being any of the two and 
twenty sorts here described ? Ifhe-be found with 
any of them, set him aside, his portion is not 
with the saints : he must be converted and made 
a new creature, or else he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God. 

Beloved, be not your own -betrayers, do not 
deceive your own hearts; nor set your hands 
to your own ruin, by a.wilful binding of your- 
selves. Set up a tribunal in your own breasts, 
bring the word and conscience together: “To 
the law and.to the testimony,” Isaiah viii, 20 ; 
hear what the word concludes of your estates : 
O follow the search till you have found how the 
case stands ; mistake here, and you perish.— 
And such is the treachery of the heart, the-sub- 
tlety of the tempter, and the deceitfulness of sin, 
Jer. xvil, 9,; 2 Cor. xi,3; Heb. ii,.13; all 
conspire to flatter and decéive the poor soul; 
and withal so common and easy it is to be mis- 
taken, that it is a thousand to one but you will 
be deceived, unless you be very careful. and 
thorough and impartial in the inquiry into your 
spiritual condition : O ! therefore ply your work, 
go to the bottom, search with -candles, weigh 
you in the balance, come to the standard of the 


92 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


sanctuary, bring: your. coin to thes touchstone. 
You have the most arch cheats in the world to 
deal with, a world of counterfeit coin is going ; 
happy is he that-takes no counterfeits for gold. 
Satan is master of deceit ; he can draw to the life, 
he is perfect in the trade, there i is nothing but he 
can imitate. 

You cannot wish for any grace, but he can fit 
you toa hair with a counterfeit. Trade warily, 
look on every piece yuu take, be. jealous, trust 
not so much as your own hearts. Run to God 
to searcly you and try you ; to examine you and 
prove your reins, Psalm xxvi, 2, and cxxxix, 23, 
24. If other helps suffice not to bring all to an 
issue, but you are stillat a loss, open your cases 
sag to some godly and faithful minister, 
Mal. ii, 7 ; rest not till you have put the business 
of your eternal welfare out of the question, I Pet. 
ii, 10.. O Searcher of hearts, put thou this soul 
upon, and help him in his search ! . 





CHAPTER V. 


_ Showing the miseries os of the unconver rted. 


So Ainpedkably dreadful is the case of every 
unconverted soul, that Ihave sometimes thought 
if [ could but convince men that they are yet un- . 
regenerate, the work were in a measure done. 

But I sadly experience, that such a spirit of 
sloth and slumber, Rom. xi, 8’; Matt. xiii, 15, 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 93 


possesseth the impenitent, that though they be 
convinced that they are yet: unconverted, yet 
they oftentimes carelessly sit. still; and what 
through the avocation of sensual pleasures, or 
hurry of worldly business, or noise and clamour 
_ of earthly cares, and lusts, and affections, Luke 
vil, 14, the voice of conscience is drowned, and 
men go no farther than some cold wishes and 
general purposes of repenting and amending. 
Acts xxiv, 15. 

It is, therefore, of high necessity that I do not 
only convince men that they are unconverted, 
but that I also'endeavour to bring them to a sense 
of the fearful misery of this state. ~ 

But here I find myself aground at first putting 
forth. What tongue can tell the heirs of hell 
sufficiently of their misery, unless it were Dives’, 
in that flame? Luke xvi, 24... Where is the 
ready writer, whose. pen can decipher their 
misery that “ are without God in the world ?”’ 
Eph. ii, 12,. This cannot be fully done, unless 
we knew the infinite ocean of that bliss of per- 
fection whichis in God; which a:state of sin 
doth exclude men from. “ Who  knoweth,”’ 
saith Moses, “ the power of thine anger?” Psa. 
xc, 11. And how shall I tell men that which I 
do not know? Yet so much we know, as one 
would think would shake the heart of that man 
that hath the least degree of spiritual life and 
sense. 

But this is yet the more posing dittcaltss that 
I am to speak to them that are without sense. 
Alas! this is not the least part of man’s misery 


94 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


‘upon him, that he is dead, stark dead in tres- 
passes and sins, Eph. ii, 1. 

Could I bring paradise into. view or represent 
the kingdom of heaven to‘as much advantage 
as the tempter did the kingdoms of the world, 
and all the glory thereof, to our Sayiour: or 
could I uncover the face of the deep and de- 
vouring gulf of Tophet, in all its terrors, and 
open the gates of the infernal furnace, alas! 
he hath no eyes to see it, Matt. xiii, 14,.15. 
Could I paint out the. Rateution of holiness, or 
glory of the Gospel to the life’; or couldI bring 
above board the more than diabolical deformity 
and ugliness of sin, he can no. more judge of 
the loveliness and beauty of the one, and the 
filthiness and hatefulness of the other, than a 
blind man ‘of colours.. He is alienated from 
the life of God through the ignorance that is 
in him because of the blindness of his heart, 
Eph. iv, 18; he neither doth nor can know the 
things of God, because they are spiritually dis- 
cerned, 1 Cor. ii, 14; his eyes cannot be savingly 
opened but by converting grace, Acts xxvi, 18 ; 
he is a child of darkness, and walks in darkness, 
1 John i, 6 ; ‘‘ yea, the light in him i is darkness,” 

Matt. vi, 3. 

Shall I ring his knell, or read his sentence, 
or sound in his ear the tertible trump of God’s 

judgments, that one would think should make 
both his ears to tingle, and strike him into Bel. 
shazzar’s fit, even to appal his countenance, 
and loosen his joints, and make his knees smite 
one against another? Yet, alas! he perceives 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 95 


me not, he hath no ears to hear. © Or shall I 
call up the daughters of music, and sing the 
song of Moses’ and of the Lamb? Yet he will 
not be stirred. Shall I allure him with the 
_joyful sound, and lovely song, and glad tidings 
of the Gospel, with the most sweet and inviting 
calls, comforts, and cordials of the Divine pro- 
mises, so exceeding great and precious? It 
will not affect him savingly, unless I could find 
him ears, Matt. xu, 15, as ee as tell him the 
news. 
Which way ‘shall I come i the miserable 
objects that I have to deal with? Who shall 
make the heart of stone to relent ? Zech. vii, 11, 
12, or the carcass to feel and move ? That God 
alone, who “ is able of stones to raise up chil- 
dren unto Abraham,” Matt. ii; 9; that raiseth 
the dead, 1 Cor. vi, 14, and “ melteth the moun- 
tains,” Neh. i, 5, and strikes water out of the 
flints, Deut. viii, 15 ; that loves to work like him- 
self, beyond the hope and _ belief of man ; . that 
peopleth his Church with dry bones, and plant- 
eth his orchard with dry sticks ; he is able to do 
this. ‘ Therefore I bow my knee to the most 
high God,” Eph. ii, 14; and as our Saviour 
prayed at the sepulchre of Lazarus, John xi, 38, 
41, and the Shunamite’ to the man. of God for 
her dead child, 2 Kings iv, 25; so doth your 
mourning minister kneel about your graves, and 
carry you in the arms of prayer to that God in 
whom your help is found. 

“ Q thou all-powerful Jehovah, that” worketh, 
and none can hinder thee! that hast the keys 


96 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


_ of death and hell, pity thou the poor souls that 
lie here entombed, and. roll away thy grave 
stones, and say as to Lazarus, Come forth: 
lighten thou this darkness, Oinacceessible Light, 
and let the day-spring from on high visit’ the 
dark regions of the dead'to whom I speak, for 
thou canst open the eyes that death itself hath 
closed ; thou that formedst the ear, canst re- 
store the hearing: say thou to these ears, Eph- 
phatha, and they shall be opened. Give thou 
eyes to see thine excellencies, a taste that may 
relish thy sweetness, a scent that may savour 
thine ointments, a feeling that may discern the 
privilege of thy favour, the burden of thy wrath, 
the intolerable weight of unpardoned sin ;’ and 
give thy servants order to prophesy to the dry 
bones ; and let the effects of this prophecy be 
~ as those of the prophet when he prophesied the 
valley of dry bones into a living army, exceeding 
great,” Ezek. xxxvil, 1, &c. 

But [ must proceed, as I am “able, to unfold 
that mystery which, I confess, no tongue. can 
fully unfold, no heart can thoroughly compre- 
hend.. Know, therefore, that while thou art un- 
converted, 

1st. “The infinite God is engaged against 
thee.” It is no small part of thy misery that 
thou art without.God, Eph. ii, 12... How doth 
Micah run crying after the Danites, “ ¥e have 
taken away my gods, and what have I more ?” 
Judges xviii, 28,24. .O what a mourning then 
must thow lift: up that art without God, that 
canst lay no claim to him _ without daring 


MISERIES or THE UNCONVERTED. 97 


patience! Thou mayest say of God as Sheba of 
David, “ We have no. part. in David, neither 
have we inheritance in the son of Jesse,” 2 Sam. 

xx, 1. How pitiful and piercing a moan is that 
of Saul-in his extremity! “'The Philistines-are 
upon me, and God is departed from. me!” 
1 Sam. xxvul, 15. But what will you do, O 
sinners, in the day of visitation? Whither will 
you flee for help ?. Where will you. leave your 
glory ? Isaiah x, 3. What will you do when the 
Philistines are upon you.; when the world shall 
take its eternal leave of you; when you must 
bid your friends, houses, and, lands, farewell 
for evermore? What will you do then, I say, 
that have no God to go to? Will you call on 
him? Will youcry to him for help? Alas! he 
will not own you, Prov. i, 28, 29.. He will not 
take any notice of you, but send you away with, 
“‘T never knew you,” Matt. vii,23. They that 
know what it is to have a God to go to, a God 
to live upon, they know a little what a_ fearful 
misery itisto be without God. This made that 
holy man cry out, “ Let me have a God or no- 
thing. Let me know him and his will, and what 
will please him, and how I-may come to enjoy 
him; or would I had never an understanding 
to know. any thing,” &c. 

But thou art not only rave God, but God is 
against thee, Ezek. v, 8,9; Nahum ii, 13. .O! 
if God would but stant neuter, though he did 
not own or help the poor sinner, his case were 
not so deeply miserable, though God should 
give up the poor creature to the will of his ene- 

7 


o8 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


mies, to do their worst with him; though he 
should deliver him over to the formentars, Matt. 
xviii, 34, that devils should tear and torture him 
to their utmost power and skill, yet this were not 
half so fearful. “But God will set himself against 
the sinner, and believe, “ it is a fearful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living God,” Heb.: x, 
31; there is no friend like him, no enemy like 
Hitrs as much as heaven is above the earth, 
omnipotency above impotency, infinity above 
nullity, so much more horrible is it to fall into 
the hands of the living God, than into the paws 
of bears or lions, yea, furies or devils. God 
himself will be thy tormentor; thy destruction 
shall come from the presence of the Lord, 
2 Thess.'1, 9. “'Tophet is deep and large, and 
the wrath of the Lord, like a river of brimstone, 
doth kindle it,” Isa. xxx, 33. “IfGod be against 
thee, who shall be for thee? If one man sin 
against another, the judge shall judge him ; 
but if'a man sin against the Lord, who shall en- 
treat for him? 1 Sam. ix, 15. Thou, even thou 
art to be feared ; and who shall stand in thy 
sight when once thouart angry ?” Psa. Ixxvi, 7. 
“ Who is that God that shall deliver you out of 
his hands?” Daniel iii, 15.- Can mammon? 
“ Riches profit not in the day of wrath,” Prov. 
xi, 4. Can kings or warriors? No: “They 
shall cry to the mountains and rocks to fall on 
them, and hide them from the face of him that 
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the 
Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, 
and who shall be able to stand?” Rey. vi, 15. 17, 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 99 


Sinner! methinks this should go like a dag. 
ger to thy heart, to know that God is thine ene. 
my: O whither wilt thou go? where wilt thou 
shelter ? There is no hope for thee unless thou 
lay down thy weapons, and sue out thy pardon ; 
and get Christ to stand thy friend and make thy 
peace; if it were not for this, thou mightest go 
into some howling, wilderness, and there pine in 
sorrow, and run mad for anguish of heart, and 
horrible despair; but-in Christ there is a pos- 
sibility of mercy for thee; yea) a proffer of 
mercy to thee, that thou mayest have God more 
for thee than, he is now against thee; but if 
thou wilt not forsake thy sins, nor turn tho- 
roughly, and to some purpose, to God, by a 
sound conversion, the wrath of God abideth on 
thee, and he proclaimeth himself to be against 
thee, as. in the Prophet Ezekiel, chapter v, 8, 
“ Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, 
I, even I, am against thee.” 

I. “ His face is against thee,” Psalm xxxiv, 
16. “The face of the Lord is against them that 
do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them.” 
_ Wo unto them whom God shall set his face 
against. When he did but look on the host of 
the Egyptians, how terrible was the. conse- 
quence! -Ezek. xiv, 8, “i will set my face 
against that man, and will make him asign and 
a proverb, and will cut him off from the midst 
of my people, and you shall know that I am the 
Lord.” 

II. “ His heart is against thee.” He hateth 
all the workers of iniquity ; ; man, doth not thy 


100 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


heart tremble to think of thy being an object of 
God’s hatred? Jer. xv, 1, “Though Moses 
and Samuel stood. before me, yet my mind 
could not be toward this people ; cast. them 
out of my sight.” Zech. xi, 8, My soul loath- 
ed them, and their souls alse abhorred me.” 

Iil. “ His hand is against thee,” 1 Sam. xii, 
14,15. All his attributes are against thee. 

First,. His justice is like a flaming sword un- 
sheathed against thee: “IfT whet my glittering 
sword, and my hand take hold on judgment, I 
will render vengeance to mine adversaries, and 
will reward them that hate me; I will make 
mine arrows drunk - with blood,” &c. Deut. 
xxxil, 40, 41. 

_ So exact is justice, that it will by no means 
clear the guilty, Exod. xxxiy, 7. God will not 
discharge thee, “ he will not hold thee guiltless,’’ 
Exod. xx, 8; but will require the whole debt 
in person of thee; unless thou canst make a 
Scripture claim to Christ, and his satisfaction. 
When the enlightened sinner looks on justice, 
and sees the balance in which he isto be weigh- 
ed, and the sword. by which he must be.executed, 
he feels an earthquake in his breast.: but Satan 
keeps this out of sight, and persuades the soul 
(while he can) that the Lord is all made up of 
mercy, and so lulls it asleep in sin. Divine 
justice is very strict, it must have satisfaction 
to the utmost farthing ; it denounceth indignation 
and wrath, tribulation and anguish, to every soul 
that doeth evil, Rom. ii, 8,9. It curseth every 
one that continueth not in every thing that is 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 101 


written in the law to do.it, Gal. iii, 10.. The 
justice of God to the unpardoned sinner, that 
hath a sense'of his misery, is more terrible than 
the sight of the bailiff or éreditor to the bankrupt 
debtor, or than the sight of the judge and bench 
to the robber, or of the irons and gibbet to the 
guilty murderer. When justice sits upon life 
and death, O what dreadful: work doth it make 
with the wretched sinner! “ Bind him hand and 
foot, cast him into outer darkness; there shall 
be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” Matt. xxii, 
13. “ Depart from me, ye cursed,. into ever- 
lasting fire,’ Matthew xxv, 41. - This is the 
terrible sentence thatjustice pronounceth. Why, . 
sinner, by this severe justice must thou be tried ! 
And as God liveth, this killing’ sentence shalt 
thou hear, unless thou repent and be converted.’. 

Secondly, The holiness of God is full of 
antipathy against thee,” Psa. v, 4, 5. He is 
not only angry with thee, but he hath a fixed, 
rooted, habitual displeasure against thee, “he 
loathes thee,” Zech. xi, 8, and what is done by 
thee, though in substance. commanded by him, 
Isa.i,14; Mal. i, 10. God’s nature is infinitely 
contrary to sin, and he cannot but hate a 
sinner out of Christ. 

O what misery is this, to be out of the favour, 
yea, under the hatred of God! Eccles. v, 6; 
Hos. ix, 15: that God who can as easily lay 
aside his nature, and cease to be God, as not 
be contrary to thee, and detest thee, except thou 
be changed and renewed by grace. O sinner! 
how dares- thou tothink of the bright and radiant 


102 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
. : 


sun of purity, of the beauties, the glory of holi- 
ness, thatis in God! “The stars are not pure 
in his sight,” Job.xxv, 5. “He humbles him- 
. self to behold things that are done in heaven,” 
Psalm eCXxill, 6. O those light. and sparkling 
eyes of his! What.do they spy in thee? And 
thou hast no interest in Christ neither, that he 
should plead for thee. . Methinks he should hear 
thee crying out (astonished) with the Bethshem- 
ites, “ Who shall stand before this Lord God!” 

Thirdly, “ The power of God is mounted like 
a mighty cannon against thee.” The glory of 
God’s power is to be displayed in the wonderful 
confusion and destruction of them that obey not 
the Gospel, 2 Thess. i, 8, 9. O man! Art thou 
able to make thy part good with thy Maker ? 
No more than a silly reed against the cedars of 
God, or a little cockboat against the tumbling 
ocean, or the children’s bubbles against the 
blustering winds. 

Sinner, the power of God’s anger is against 
thee, Psalm xc, 11, and power. and anger to- 
gether. make fearful work 5 ; it were better thou 
hadst all the world in arms against thee, than 
to have the power of God against thee. There 
is no escaping his hands-nor breaking his prison. 
«The thunder ofhis power who can understand ?” 
Job xxvi, 14. Unhappy man that shall under. 
stand it by feeling it! “Ifhe will contend with 
him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. 
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength: who 
hath hardened himself against him and prosper- 
ed? which removeth the mountains and they 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 103 


know it not; which overturneth them in his 
anger; which shaketh the earth out of her place, 
and the pillars. thereof. tremble ; which com- 
mandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth 
up.the stars? Behold, he taketh away, who can 
hinder him ?-Who will say unto him, What dost 
thou? If God will not withdraw his anger, pe 
proud helpers do stoop under him,”.Job ix, 5 
®&c. And art theu a fit match for such ‘an 
antagonist? * O consider this, you that. forget 
God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be 
none to deliver you,’ Psalm 1, 22. Submit to 
mercy, let not dust and stubble stand out against 
the Almighty : set not briers and thorns against 
him in battle, lest he go through them and con- 
sume them together ; but lay hold of his strength, 
that you may “ make peace with him,” Isa, 
xxvul, 4,5. ‘ Wo unto him that striveth with 
his Waker. ’ Isa. xlv, 9. 

Fourthly, “ The wisdom of God is. set to 
ruin thee.”” He hath ordained his arrows, and 
prepared instruments of death, and made all 
things ready, Psalm Vii, 12,13. His counsels 
are against thee to contrive thy destruction, Jer. 
xvili, 11. He laughs to see how thou wilt be 
taken and ensnared in the evil day, Psa. xxxvu, 
13, “ The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth 
that his day is coming.’ He sees how thou 
wilt come down mightily in a moment ; how thou 
wilt wring thy hands, tear thy hair, eat thy flesh 
and gnash thy teeth for anguish and astonish- 
ment of heart, when thou seest thou art fallen 
remedilessly into the pit of destruction. 


104 #£=gMISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


Fifthly, “ The truth of God is sworn against 
thee,” Psalm xev, 11. Ifhe be true and faith- 
ful thou must perish if thou goest on, Luke xiii, 
3. Unless he be false to his word thou must 
die, except thou repent, Ezek. xxxui, 11. “ It 
we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he can- 
not deny himself,” 2 Tim. ii, 13; that is,he is 
faithful to his threatenings as well as his pro- 
mises, and will show his faithfulness in our 
confusion, if we believe not. God hath told thee, 
as plain as it can be spoken, that “ if he wash 
thee not, thou hast no part in him,” John xiii, 
8; that “if thou livest after the flesh thou shalt 
die,” Rom. viii, 13; that “ except thou be con- 
verted, thou shalt in nowise enter into the 
kingdom of heaven,” Matt. xvii, 3; and he 
abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. Be- 
loved, .as the immutable - faithfulness of God in 
his promise and.oath affords believers strong 
consolation, Heb. vi, 18,'so it is to unbelievers 
for strong consternation and confusion. O sin- 
ner, tell me what shift dost thou make to think 
of all the threatenings of God’s word, that stand 
upon record against thee? Dost thou believe 
they are truth, or not? If not, thou art a wretch- 
ed infidel, and not a Christian; and therefore, 
give over the name and hope of a’Christian. 
But if thou dost believe them, O heart of steel 
that thou hast, that canst walk up and down 
in quiet, when the truth and faithfulness of God 
are engaged to destroy thee! So that if the Al- 
mighty can do it, thou shalt surely perish and 
be damned. Why, man ! the whole book of God 


/ 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 105 


doth testify against. thee while thou’ remainest 
unsanctified.: it condemns thee in every leaf, 
and is to thee like Ezekiel’s roll, “ written with- 
in and without with lamentation, and mourning, 
and wo,” Ezek. ii, 10; and all this shall surely 
come upon thee, and isteetalia thee, Deut. xxviii, 
15, except thou repent; “Heaven and earth 
shall pass away; but one jot or tittle of this word 
shall never pass away,” Matt. v, 18. 

Now put all this together, and tell me if the 
case of the unconverted be not deplorably mise- 
rable ; as we read of some persons that had 
bound themselves in am oath and in a curse to 
kill Paul, so thou must know, O impenitent 
sinner, to thy terror, that all-the attributes of 
the infinite God are bound in an oath to destroy 
thee, Heb. iii, 18. O man! what wilt thou do? 
Whither wilt thou flee? If God’s omnisciency 
can find thee, thou shalt not escape; if the true 
and faithful God will save his oath, perish thou 
must, except thou repent and believe. If the 
Almighty hath power to torment thee, thou 
shalt be perfectly miserable in soul and body 
to all eternity, unless it be prevented by speedy. 
conversion. 

Il. “The whole creation of God is against 
thee.” “The whole creation,” saith Paul, 
“ sroaneth ‘and travaileth in pain,” Rom. viii, 
22. But what isit the creation groaneth under ? 
Why, the fearful abuse that it is subject to, in 
serving the lust of unsanctified men. And what 
is it that the creation groaneth for? Why, for 
freedom and liberty from this abuse; for the 


106 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


“creature is very unwillingly subject to this 
bondage,”’ Rom. viii, 19,21. If the unreason- 
able and animate creatures had speech and 
reason, they would cry out under it as a bond- 
age unsuflerable to. be abused by the ungodly, 
contrary to their natures and the ends that the 
great Creator made themfor. While the Lord 
of hosts is against thee, be sure the host of the 
Lord is against thee, and all the creatures as it 
were up in arms, till upon a man’s conversion 
the controversy being taken up between God 
and him, he makes a covenant of peace with 
the creatures for him, Job xxi, 21, 24; Hos. ii, 
18, 20. ! | 

Ill. “The roaring lion hath his full power 
upon thee,” 1 Pet. v, 8: Thou art fast in-the 
paw of that lion thatis greedy to devour ; in 
the snare of the devil, led captive by him at his 
will, 2 Tim. ii, 26. “This is the spirit that 
worketh in the children of disobedience, Eph. 
ii, 2; his drudges they are, and his lust they 
do. He is the ruler of the darkness of this 
world, Eph. vi, 12, that is, of ignorant sinners 
that live in darkness. You pity the poor In- 
dians that worship the devil for their god, but 
little think it is your own case. Why, it is the 
common misery of all the- impenitent, that the 
devil is their god, 2 Cor. iv, 4. Not that they 
do intend todo him homage and worship ; they 
will be ready to defy him, and him that should 
say so by them; but’all this while they serve 
him, and come and go at his beck, and live un- 
der his government: “ His servants ye are to 


MISERIES OF [HE UNCONVERTED., 107 


whom you yield yourselves to obey,” Rom. vi, 

16. Doubtless the liar intends not a service 
to Satan, but his own advantage ;. yet it is he 
that standeth in the corner unobserved, and put- 

teth the things in his heart, Acts v, 3; John 
vili, 44. - Questionless Judas, when he sold his 

Master for money, and the Chaldeans and Sa- 

beans, when they plundered Job, intended not to 

do the devil a pleasure, but to satisfy their own 
covetous thirst; yet it was he.that actuated them 
in their wickedness, John xiii, 27 3. Job i, 12, 15, 
17. Men may be very. slaves and common’ 
drudges for. the devil, and never know it; nay, 
they may please themselves in the thoughts of 
happy liberty, 2 Pet. ii, 19. 

Art thou yet in ignorance, and not turned from 
darkness to light? Why, thou art under the 
power of Satan, Acts xvi, 18... Dost thou live 
in the ordinary and wilful practice of any known 
sin? know that thou art of the devil, 1. John ii, 
8. Dost thou live in strife, or envy, or malice ? 
verily he is thy father, John viii, 40,41. O 
dreadful case! However Satan may provide his 
slaves with divers pleasures, Tit. iii, 3, yet it is 
but to draw them into endless perdition. The 
serpent comes with the apple in his mouth, O! 
but (with Eve) thou seest not the deadly sting 
in his tail. He that is now thy tempter will one 
day be thy tormentor. O! that I could but give 
thee to see how black a master thou. servest, 
how filthy a drudgery thou dost, how merciless 
a tyrant thou gratifiest, all whose pleasure is to 
set thee on work to make thy perdition and dam. 


108 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


nation sure, and to heat the furnace hotter and 
hotter, in whichthou must burn for millions and 
millions of ages. 

IV. “The guilt of all thy sins lies like a 
mountain upon thee.” “Poor soul! thou feelest 
it not, but this is that which seals thy misery 
upon thee.’ While unconverted, none of thy 
sins can be blotted out, Acts iii, 19; they are 
all upon the score against thee. Regeneration 
and remission are never separated; the unsanc- 
tified are unquestionably unjustified and unpar- 
doned, 1 Cor. vi, 11; 1 Pet. i, 2; Heb. ix, 14. 
Beloved, it is a fearful thing to be in debt, but 
above all in God’s debt; for there is no arrest 
so formidable as his, no prison so horrible as 
his. Look upon an enlightened sinner, who 
feels the weight of his own guilt, O how aoe 
ful are his looks, how fearful are his complaints ! 
His comforts are turned into wormwood, and his 
moisture into drought, and his sleep is departed 
from his eyes. 

How light soever you may make. of it now, 
you will one day find the guilt of unpardoned 
sin to be a heavy burden; it is a millstone ; 
“whosoever falleth upon it shall be broken ; but 
upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him 
to powder,” Matt. xxi, 44.. What work did it 
make with dur blessed Saviour! It pressed the 
very blood out of his veins, and broke all his 
bones; and if it did this in the green tree, 
what will it do in the dry ? 

O think of thy case in time! canst thou think 
of that threat without trembling, Ye shall die in 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. — 109 


your sins? John viii, 24. © better were it for 
thee to die in a jail, in.a ditch, in a dungeon, 
than to die inthysins.. If death; asit will take 
away all other comforts, would take away thy 
sins too, it were some mitigation ; «but thy sins 
will follow thee when thy friends leave thee, and 
all worldly enjoyments shake hands with thee ; 
thy sins will not die with thee, 2 Cor. v, 10; 
Rey. xx, 12,-as a, prisoner’s other debts will, 
but they will go to judgment with thee, there 
to be thy accusers; and they will go to hell 
with thee, there to be thy termentors. * Better to 
have so many fiends and furies about thee than 
thy sins to fall upon thee and fasten upon thee. 
O the work that these will makethee! Olook 
over thy debts in time, how much thou artin the 
books of every one of God’s laws: how is every 
one of God’s commandments ready to arrest 
thee, and seize thee by the throat, for the innu- 
merable bonds it hath upon thee? What wilt 
theu do then, when they shall all together come 
in against thee? Hold open the eyes of con- 
science to consider this, that thou mayest despair 
of thyself, and be driven to Christ, and “ fly for_ 
refuge, to lay hold of the hope that is set before 
thee,” Heb. vi, 18. 

V. “Thy raging lusts do miserably enslave. 
thee.” While impenitent, thou art a very ser- 
vant of sin; it reigns over thee, and holds thee 
under its dominion till thou art brought within 
the bonds of God’s covenant, John vill, 34, 
36; Titus iii, 3; Romans vi, 12, 14, 16, 17. 
Now there is not such another tyrant as sin; 


110 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


O the filthy and fearful work that it doth engage 
its servants in! -Would it not pierce a man’s 
heart, to see a company of poor creatures 
drudging and toiling, only to heap up fagots 
to burn themselves? Why, this is the constant 
employment of all sin’s drudges: even while 
they bless themselves in their unrighteous gains, 
while they sing and swill in pleasures, they.are 
but treasuring up wrath and vengeance for their 
eternal burning ;, they are but laying in powder 
and bullet, and adding to the pile of Tophet, and 
flinging in oil to make the flame rage the fiercer. 
Who would serve such a master, whose work is 
drudgery, and whose wages is death ! Sah one 
vi, 23. 

‘What a woful spectacle was the poor beatch 
who was possessed with the legion ! Would it not 
have grieved thy heart to have seen him among 
the tombs cutting and wounding himself? Mark 
v, 5. Thisis thy case, such is thy work, every 
stroke is a thrust at thy heart, 1 Tim. vi, 10. 
Conscience, indeed, is now asleep, but when 
death and judgment shall bring thee to thy 
senses, then thou wilt feel the raging smart and 
anguish of every wound. | 

VI. “'The furnace of eternal vengeance is 
heated ready for thee,” Isaiah xxx, 33. “ Hell 
and destruction open their mouths upon thee, 
they gape and groan for thee,” chapter v, 18, 
waiting, as it were, with a greedy eye, as thot 
standest on the brink, when thou wilt drop in. 
If the wrath of Le be “as the roaring of a 
lion,” Prov. xx, 2; “More heavy than the 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 1T1 


sand,” chap. xxvii, 3; what is.the wrath of the 
infinite God! If the burning furnace, heated in 
Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery rage, when he com. 
manded.it to be. made seven times hotter, was 
so fierce as’to burn up even those that. drew 
near it to throw the three children-in, Daniel ii, 
19, 22, how hot is that Aragon: oven of the 
Almighty’ s fury? Mal. iv, 1; surely this is 
seventy times more fierce. Can thy heart 
endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the day 
that I shall deal with thee, saith the Lord. of 
hosts ?” Ezek. xxii, 14. Canst thou abide ever- 
lasting burning? Canst thou -dwell with con- 
suming fire? Isa. xxxil, 14. 
O sinner, stop here and consider; if icp 

art a man, and-not a senseless block, consider ; 
bethink thyself. where thou standest ; why, upon 
the very brink of this furnace. “ As the Lord 
liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a 
step between thee and it,” 1 Sam. xx, 3. Thou 
knowest not when thou liest down, but thou 
mayest be init before the morning : thou know- 
est not when thou risest, but thou mayest dro 

in before night. Darest thou make light of this ? 
Wilt thou go on in such a dreadful condition as 
if nothing ailed thee? If thou puttest it off, and 
sayest, “This doth not belong to me;” look 
again over the foregoing chapter, and tell me 
the truth ; are none of these black marks found 
upon thee? Do not blind thine eyes, do not 
deceive thyself; see thy misery while thou 
mayest preventit. Think what itis to bea vile 
outcast, a damned reprobate, a vessel of wrath, 


112 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


into which the Lord will pour out his tormenting 
fury, while he hath a being, Rom. ix, 22. 

VII. “The law discharges all its.threats and 
curses at thee,” Gal. iil, 10; Deut. xxvii. O 
how dreadful doth it thunder! It spits fire and 
brimstone in thy face: its words are as drawn 
swords, and asthe sharp arrows of the mighty ; 
it demands satisfaction to>the utmost, and cries 
justice, justice ; it speaks blood, and war, and 
wounds, and death against thee. Othe. exe- 
cr ations, and plagues, and deaths, that this mur- 
dering piece is loaded with ! (Read Deut. xxviii, 
15, &c ;) and thou art the mark at which this 
shot is levelled. “0 man, away to thy strong 
hold,” Zech. ix, 12; away from thy sins ; haste 
to the sanctuary, the city of refuge, Heb. xiii, 
13, even the Lord Jesus Christ ; hide thee in 
him, or else thou art lost. without any: hope of 
recovery. 

VIII. “The Gospel steef bindeth the sen- 
tence of cternal damnation upon thee,” Mark 
xvi, 16. If thou continuest in thine impenitent 
and unconverted state, know that the Gospel 
denounceth a much sorer condemnation than 
ever would have been for the transgression only 
of the first covenant. Is it not a dreadfi 
to have the Gospel itself thunder out treat of 
damnation? To have “The Lord roar from | 
Mount Sion” against thee? Joel iii, 16. “Hear _ 
the terror of the Lord: He that— teveth not 
shall be damned. Except ye repent yeselle IL 
perish,” Luke xiii, 2. “This is the conc pte 
tion, that light is come into the world, ¢ and men 


a 


MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 113 


love darkness rather than light,”’ John ii, 19. 
‘“ He that believeth not, the wrath of God 
abideth on him,” John iii, 36. “If the word 
spoken by angels was steadfast, and every 
transgression and disobedience received a just 
recompense. of reward, how shall we escape if 
we neglect so great salvation?” Heb. ii, 2, 3. 
“‘ He that despised Moses’s: law, died without 
mercy : of how much sorer punishment shall he 
be thought worthy, who hath trampled under foot 
the Son of God?” Heb. x, 28, 29. 
Appiication. And is this true indeed? Is 
this thy misery? Yea, it is as true as God is. 
Better open thine eyes,.and see it now, while 
thou mayest remedy it, than blind and harden 
thyself, till, to thy eternal sorrow, thou shalt feel 
what thou wouldest not believe ; and if it be true, 
what dost thou mean, to loiter and linger in such 
a case as this? a 
_ Hear what the Lord saith: “ Fear ye not 
me, saith the Lord; will ye not tremble at my 
presence?” Jer. v, 22. O sinners, do you 
make light of the wrath to come? Matt. iii, 7. 
I am sure there is a time coming when you 
will not make light of it. Why, the very devils 
do believe and tremble, James ii, 19. What! 
are you more hardened than they? Will you 
run upon the edge of the rock? Will you play 
at the hole of the asp? Will you put your hand 
upon the cockatrice’s den? Will you dance 
upon the fire till you are burnt? or dally with 
devouring wrath as if you were indifferent 
whether you did escape or endure it? O mad. 
8 


114 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


ness of folly ! Solomon’s madman that casteth 
firebrands, arrows, and death, and saith, *« Am 
I not in jest ?” Prov. xxvi, 18. There is nothing 
so distracted-as the wilful sinner, Luke xv, 16, 
that goeth on in his unconverted state, without 
sense, as if nothing ailed him. The man that 
runs on the cannon’s mouth, and sports with 
his blood, and lets out his life in a frolic, is 
sensible, sober, and. serious, to him that goeth 
on still in his trespasses, Psalm Ixvil, 21; for 
“ he stretches out his hand against God, and 
strengthens himself against the Almighty: he 
runneth upon him, even upon his neck, upon 
the thick bosses of his buckler,” Job xv, 25, 26. 
Is it wisdom to dally with the second death, or 
to venture into the lake that burneth with fire 
and brimstone, Rev. xxi, 8, as if thou wert but 
going to wash thee, or swim for thy recreation ? 
What shall I say? I can find out no expression, 
no comparison, whereby to set forth the dreadful 
distraction of that soul that continues to go on 
in sin. 

Awake, awake, Eph. vy, 14, O sinner! arise 
and take thy flight: there is but one door thou 
mayest flee by, and that is the straight door of 
conversion and the new birth. Unless thou . 
turn unfeignedly from all thy sins, and come 
to Jesus Christ, and take him for “ the Lord 
thy righteousness,” and walk in him in holiness 
and newness of life; as the Lord liveth, it is not 
more certain that thou art out of hell, than that 
thou shalt without fail be in it, but a few days 
and nightsfrom hence. O set thy heart to think 


MISERIES. OF THE UNCONVERTED. 115 


of thy case. Is not thine everlasting misery 
and welfare that which. doth-deserve a little 
consideration ? Look again over the miseries 
of the unconverted. If the Lord hath not 
spoken by me, regard me not ; but if it be the 
very word of God, that all his misery lies upon 
thee, what a case art thou in! Is it for one that 
has his senses to live in such a. condition, and 
not to make all possible expedition for preventing 
his utter ruin! Oman! who hath bewitched 
thee! Gal. iil, 1, that im the present life thou 
shouldest be wise enough to forecast thy busi- 
ness, foresee thy danger, and prevent thy mis- 
chief ; but in matters of everlasting consequence 
shouldest be- slight and. careless as if they little 
concerned thee? .Why, is it nothing to thee to 
have all the attributes of God engaged against 
thee? Canst thou do well without his favour ? 
Canst thou escape his- hands, or endure his 
vengeance ? Dost thou hear the creation groan- 
ing under thee, and hell groaning for thee, and 
yet think thy case good enough? Art thou in 
the paw of the lion, under the power of corrup- 
tion, in the dark noisome prison, fettered with - 
lusts, working out thy own. damnation, and. is 
not this worth the considering? Wilt thou make 
light of all the terrors of the law, of all its curses 
and thunderbolts, as if they were but the report 
of children’s popguns, or thou wert to war with 
their paper pellets ? Dost thou laugh at hell and 
destruction, or canst thou drink fhe envenomed 
cup of the Almighty’s fur Ys as if it were but a 
common potion ? 


rs 


116 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 


“ Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will 
demand of thee, and answer thou- me,” Job xl, 
7. Art thou such a leviathan, as that the scale 
of thy pride should keep thee from thy Maker’s 
coming to thee? Wilt thou esteem his arrows 

as straw, and the instruments of death as rotten 
wood? Art thou the chief ofall the children of 
pride, even that thou shouldest count his darts 
as stubble, and laugh at the shaking of his 
spear? Art thou made without fear, and con- | 
temnest his barbed irons? Job xli. Art thou 
like the horse that paweth in the valley, and re- 
joiceth in his tation who goeth out to meet 
the armed men? ost thou mock -at fear, and 
art not affrighted, neither turnest back from 
God’s sword, when his quiver rattleth against 
thee, the glittering spear and the shield? Job 
XXxix, 21, 23. Well, if the threats and calls ot 
the word vail not frighten thee nor awaken thee, 
I am sure death and judgment will. O! what 
wilt thou do when the Lord cometh forth against 
thee, and in his fury falleth upon thee, and thou 
shalt feel what thou readest! If, when Daniel’s 
enemies were cast into the den of lions, both. 
them, and their wives, and their children; the 
lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their 
bones in pieces, or ever they came at the bottom 
of the den, Dan. vi, 24, what shall be done with 
thee when thou fallest into the hands of the. 
living God, when he shall gripe thee in his iron 
arms, and erind and crush thee in ‘a thousand 
pieces in his wrath ? 

O do not then contend with God! “ Repent 


DIRECTIONS FOR’ CONVERSION. 117 


and be converted,”’ so none of this shall come 
upon thee, Isaiah lv,.6, 7... “ Seek ye the Lord 
while he may be found ;, call on him while he is 
near :”. “ Let.the wicked forsake his way, and 
the unrighteous man his thoughts ; let him return 
unto the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, 
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” 





CHAPTER VL. 
. Containing directions for conversion. 


And there came: one and kneeled to him, and asked him, 
Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eter- 
nal life? Mark Tei. 


Berore thou readest. these dcnechtnds I ad. 
vise thee, yea, I charge thee before God and his 
holy angels, that thou resolve to follow them (as 
far as conscience shall be convinced of their 
agreeableness to God’s word and thy state) and 
call in his assistance and blessing, that they may 
succeed: and as I have sought the Lord, and 
consulted his oracles what advice to give thee, 
so must thouentertain it with that awe, reverence, 
and purpose of obedience, that the word of the 
living God doth require. 

Now then attend: “ Set thine pane unto all 
that I shall testify unto thee this day; for it is 
not a vain thing, it is your life,” Deut. xxxii, 46. 
This is the end of all that has been spoken 
hitherto, to bring you to set upon turning, and 
making use of God’s means for your conver- 
sion. I would not trouble you, nor “ torment 


118 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 


you before your time,” with the forethoughts 
of your eternal misery ; but in-order to your 
making your escape. Were you shut up under 
your present misery without remedy, it were 
but mercy (as one speaks) to let. you alone, 
that you might take in that little poor comfort 
that you are capable of in this world ; but you 
may yet be happy if you do not wilfully refuse 
the means of your recovery: Behold, I hold 
open the door to you; arise, take your flight : 
I set the way of life before you, walk in it, and 
you shall live and not die, Deut. xxx, 19; Jer. 
vi, 16: It grieves me to think you should be 
your own murderers, and_ throw. yourselves 
headlong, when God and man cry out to you, 
as Peter in another case to his Master, ‘* Spare 
thyself.” 

Hear then, O sinner! -and as ever thou 
wouldest be converted and saved, embrace the 
following counsel :— 

Direction I. “ Set it down with thyself as an 
undoubted truth, that it is impossible for thee 
evcr to get to heaven in this thy unconverted 
state.” Can any other but Christ save thee ? 
and he tells thee he never will do it, except thou 
be regenerated and converted, Matt. xvii, 3; 
John iii, 8. Doth he not keep the keys of hea- 
ven? and canst thou get in without his leave ? 
as thou must, if ever thou come thither in thy 
natural condition, without a sound and thorough 
renovation. 

Direct. If. “ Labour to get a thorough sight 
and lively sense and feeling of thy sins.” ‘Till 


DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 119 


men are weary and heavy laden, and pricked at 
the heart, and quite sick of sin, they will not 
come unto Christ, in his way, for ease ‘and 
cure; nor to purpose inquire, “ What shall. we 
do?” Matt. ix, 12, and xi, 28; Acts ii, 37.— 
They must: set themselves down for dead men 
before they will come unto Christ that they may 
have life, John v, 40. Labour therefore to set 
all thy sins in order before thee ; never be afraid 
to look upon them, but let thy spirit make dili- 
gent search, Psalm Ixxviii, 5. Inquire into thine 
heart and into thy life; enter into a thorough 
examination of thyself, and all thy ways, Psalm 
cxix, 59, that thou mayest make a full disco- 
very; ‘and-call in the help of God’s Spirit, and 
a sense of thine own inability hereunto, for it is 
his. proper work to convince of sin, John xvii, 8; 
spread all before the face of thy conscience, till 
thy heart and eyes be set abroach: leave not 
striving with God and thy own soul, till it cry 
out under the sense of thy sins, as the enlight- 
ened jailer, “What must I do to be saved?” 
Acts xvi, 30. To this purpose, 

“ Meditate on the numerousness of thy:sins.” 
David’s heart failed when he thought of this, 
and considered that he had more sins than hairs, 
Psalm lx, 12. This made him cry out upon 
the multitude of God’s tender mercies, Psalm 
li, 1. The loathsome carcass doth not more 
hatefully swarm with crawling worms, than an 
unsanctified soul with filthy lusts; they fill the 
head, the heart, the eyes, the mouth of him.— 
Look backward : where was ever the place, 


120 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 


what was ever the time in-which thou didst not 
sin? Look inward: what part or power canst 
thou find in soul or body, but it is poisoned with 
sin? What. duty dost thou ever perform, into 
which poison is not shed? O, how great is the 
sum of thy debts, who hast been all thy life run- 
ning behindhand, and never didst nor canst pay 
off one penny ! Look over the sins of thy nature, 
and_all its cursed brood, the sins of thy life: 
call to mind thy omissions, commissions, the sins 
of thy thoughts, words, and actions, the sins 
of thy youth, and those of thy riper years; be 
not like a desperate bankrupt, that is afraid to 
look over his books; read the records of con- 
science carefully. These books must be opened 
sooner or later, Rev. xx, 12. 

“ Meditate on the aggravations of thy sins as 
they are grand enemies of the God of thy life, 
and the life of thy soul; in a word, they are the 
public enemies of all mankind.” How do Da- 
vid, Ezra, Daniel, and the good Levites, aggra- 
vate their sins, from the consideration of their 
injuriousness to God, their. opposition to his 
good and righteous laws, the mercies, the warn- 
ings they were committed against? Neh. ix; 
Dan. ix; Ezra ix. O the work that sin hath 
made in the world! This is the enemy that 
hath brought in death, and hath robbed and en- 
slaved man, that hath backed the devil, that 
hath digged hell, Rom. v, 12; 2 Pet. 11,4 ; John 
vill, 834. This is the, enemy that turned the 
world upside down, and soweth dissension be- 
tween man and the creatures, between man and 


DIRECTIONS ‘FOR CONVERSION. 121 


man, yea, between man and himself,.setting the 
sensitive part against the rational, the will 
against the judgment, lust against. conscience ; 
yea, worst of all, between God and man, making 
the lapsed sinner both hateful to God, and the 
hater of him, Zech. xi, 8. O man! how canst 
thou make so light of sin? This is the traitor 
that sucked the blood of the Son of God ;. that 
sold him, that mocked him, that scourged him, 
that spit in-his face, that nailed ‘his hands, that 
pierced his side, that pressed his soul, that 
mangled his body, that never- left. till he had 
bound him, condemned him, nailed him, cruci- 
fied him, and put him to an open shame, Isaiah 
li, 4, 6. °'This is that ‘deadly poison,-so pow- 
erful of operation, as that one drop of it shed on 
the root of mankind, hath corrupted, spoiled, 
poisoned, and undone his whole race at once, 
Romans v, 18, 19. ‘This is the common butcher, 
the bloody executioner, that hath killed the 
prophets, burnt the martyrs, murdered all the 
apostles, all the patriarchs, all the kings and 
potentates; that hath destroyed Cities, swal- 
lowed empires, butchered and devoured whole 
nations. Whatever was the weapon it was done 
by, sin was it that did the execution, Romans vi, 
23. Dost thou yet think it but-a small thing? 
If Adam and all his. children could be dug out 
of their graves, and their bodies. piled up to 
heaven, and an inquest were made, What 
matchless murderer was guilty of all this blood ? 
it would be all found in the skirts of sin. Study 
the nature of sin till thy heart inclines. to fear 


122 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 


and loathe it ; and meditate on the aggravations 

of thy particular sins, how thou hast sinned 
against all God’s warnings, against thy own 
prayers, against mercies, against correction, 
against the clearest light, against the freest love, 
against thine own resolutions, against promises, 
vows, covenants of better obedience, &c. Charge 
thy heart home with these things, til] it blush for 
shame, and be brought out of eal good opinion 
of itself, Ezra ix, 6. ) 

« Meditate on the desert of sin.” It crieth up 
to heaven ; it calls for vengeance, Gen. xviii, 21. 
Its:due wages is death and damnation; it pulls 
the curse of God upon the soul and body, Gal. 
ui, 10; Deut. xxviii. “The least sinful word or 

thought lays thee under the infinite wrath of God 
almighty, Romans ii, 8,9; Matt. xii, 36: O 
what a load of wrath, what a weight of curses, 
what a treasure of. vengeance, have all the mil- 
lions of thy sins then deserved ! Romans ii, 5; 
James v, 3. O judge thyself, that the Lord may 
not judge thee; 1 Cor. xi, 31. 

- Meditate upon the deformity and defilement 
of sin.” - It is as black as hell, the very image 
and likeness of the devil, drawn upon the soul, 
1 John iii, 8,10. It would more affright thee 
to see thyself in the hateful deformity of thy 
nature, than to see the devil. There is no mire 
so unclean, no vomit so loathsome,-no carcass 
carrion so offensive, no plague or leprosy so 
noisome as sin, in which thou art rolled and 
covered with its odious filth, whereby thou art 
rendered more displeasing to the pure and holy 


DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 123 


nature of the glorious God, than the most filthy 
objects, composed of whatever is hateful to all 
thy senses, can be to thee, Job xv, 15, 16. 
Couldest thou take up a toad into thy bosom.? 
Couldest thou cherish it and take delight in it? 
Why thou art as contrary to the pure and per- 
fect holiness of the Divine nature, and as loath- 
some as it is to. thee, Matt. xxiii, 33, till thou. 
art purified by the blood of Jesus, and the 
ower of renewing grace. 

«“ Above all other sins, fix me eye of thy 
consideration on these two.” 1. “The sin of 
thy nature.” It is to little purpose to lop the 
branches, while the root of origimal corruption 
remains untouched. In vain do men lave out 
the streams, when the fountain is running that 
fills up all again. . Let the acts of thy repent- 
ance Sis David’s) go to the. root of the sin, 
Psalm li, 5.. The heart.is never soundly bro- 
ken till thoroughly convinced of the- heinous- 
ness of original sin. Here fix thy thoughts, 
this is-that that makes thee backward to all 
good, prone to all evil, Rom. vii,15, that sheds 
blindness, . pride, prejudice, unbelief, into thy 
mind ; enmity, inconstancy, obstinacy, into thy 
will; inordinate heats and colds into thy affec- 
tions; insensibleness, benumbedness, unfaith- 
fulness, into thy conscience ; slipperiness into: 
thy memory ; and, in .a word, hath put every 
wheel of thy soul out of order, and made it (a 
habitation of holiness) to become a very hell of 
iniquity, James ii, 6. This is what hath defiled, 
corrupted, perverted all thy members, and turned 


124 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 


them into weapons of unrighteousness, and serv- 

ants of sin, Romans vi, 19; that had_ filled the 

head with carnal and corrupt designs, Mic. ii, 1 ; 

the hand with sinful practices, Isaiah 1, 6; the 

eyes with wandering and wantonness, 2 Peter 

ii, 14; the tongue with deadly poison, James 

iii, 8; that opened the ears ‘to tales, flattery, 

and evil communication, and shut them against 
the instructions of life, Zech..vii, 11, 12; and 

hath rendered thy heart a very mint ‘and forge. 
for sin, and the cursed womb of.all deadly con- 

ceptions, Matt. xv, 19, so that it poureth forth 
its wickedness without ceasing, 2 Peter i, 14, 

even as naturally, freely, and unweariedly, as a 

fountain doth pour out its waters, Jer. vi, 7, or 

the raging sea doth cast forth mire and dirt, Isa. 

lvii, 20. And wilt thou yet be in love with thy- 

self, and tell us any longer of thy good heart ? 

O never leave meditating on the desperate con- 

tagion of original corruption, tillwith Ephraim 

thou bemoan thyself, Jer. xxxi, 18; and with 

the deepest shameand sorrow smite on thy breast, 

as the publican, Luke xviii, 18 ; and with Job 

abhor shares and repent in dust and ashes, 
Job xlu, 6 

2. ‘Fhe pid tioulit evil ‘that thou art now 

addicted to.” Find out all its aggravation, set 

home upon thy heart all God’s threats against 

it: repentance drives before it the whole herd, 
but especially sticks the arrow -in the beloved 

sin, and singles this out above the rest, to run. 
it down, Psalm xviii, 22. O labour to make 

this sin odious to thy soul, and double thy 


DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 125 


guard and resolutions against it, because this 
hath, and doth most dishonour God, and en- 
danger a ee 

Direct. III. « Strive to affect thy heart. with 
a due sense of thy present misery.” Read over 
the foregoing chapter again and again, and get 
it out of the book into thy heart... O study thy 
misery till thy heart-cries out for Christ as 
earnestly as ever a drowning man did for a boat, 
or the wounded for a surgeon. Men must come 
to. see the. danger, and feel the smart of their 
deadly sores and sickness, or-else Christ will -be 
to them a. physician of no value, Matt. ix, 12. 
Then the man slayer hastens to the city of re- 
fuge, when pursued by the avenger of blood. 
Men must be even forced.and fired out of them- 
selves, or else they will not come to Christ. It 
was distress and extremity that made the prodi- 
gal think of returning, Luke xv, 16,17. While 
Laodicea thinks herself rich, increased in goods, 
in need of nothing, there-is little hope: she 
must be deeply convinced of her wretchedness, 
blindness, poverty, and nakedness, before she 
will come to Christ for -his gold, raiment, and 
eye salve, Rev. ui, 17, 18; therefore hold the 
eyes of conscience open, amplify thy misery as 
much as possible, do not flee the sight of it for 
fear it should fill thee with terror. "The: sense 
of thy misery is but as it were the suppuration 
of the wound, which is necessary to the cure. 
Better fear the torments that abide thee now, 
than feel them hereafter. 

Direct. IV. “Settle it upon thy heart that 


126 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. _ 


thou art under everlasting inability ever to re- 
cover thyself.” Never think thy praying, read- 
ing, hearing, confessing, amending, will: work 
the cure; these must be attended to, but thou 
art undone if thou restest in them, Rom. x; 3. 
Thou art a-lost man if thou hopest to escape 
drowning on any other plank but Jesus Christ, 
Acts iv, 12. Thou must unlearn thyself, and 
renounce thy own wisdom, thy own righteous- 
ness, thy own strength, and throw thyself wholly 
upon Christ, as a man that swims casts himself 
upon the water, or else thou canst not escape. 
While men trust in themselves, and establish 
their own righteousness, and have confidence 
in the -flesh, they will not come savingly to 
Christ, Luke xviii, 9; Phil. iii, 3. Thou must 
know thy gain to be. but loss and dung, thy 
strength but weakness, thy righteousness rags 
and rottenness, before there will be an. effectual 
closure between Christ and thee, Phil. iii, 7, 8, 
9; 2 Cor. iti, 5;. Isa. lxiv, 6. Can the lifeless 
carcass shake off its grave clothes and loose the 
bands of death? Then mayest thou recover 
thyself, who art dead in trespasses and sins. 
Therefore, when thou goest to pray or medi- 
tate, or do any of. the duties to which thou art 
here directed, go out of thyself, and call in the 
help of the Spirit, as despairing to do any thing 
pleasing to God in thy own strength; yet ne- 

lect not thy duty, but lie at the pool, and wait 
in the way of the Spirit. "While the eunuch 
was reading, then the Holy Ghost did send 
Philip to him, Acts viii, 28,.29; when the dis- 


DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 127 


ciples were praying, chap. iv, 31, when Corne- 
lius and his friends were hearing, chap. x, 44, 
then the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and filled 
them all. Strive to give up thyself to Christ ; 
strive to pray, strive to meditate, strive a: hun. 
dred and a hundred times, strive to do it as well 
as thou canst ; and while thou art endeavouring 
in the way of thy duty, the Spirit of the Lord 
will come upon thee, and help thee to do what 
of thyself thou art utterly unable to perform, 
Prov. i, 23. 

Direction V. “Forthwith renounce all thy 
sins.” If thou yield thyself to the practice of 
any sin, thou art undone, Rom. vi, 17. © In vain 
dost thou hope for life by Christ, except thou 
depart from iniquity, 2 Tim. ii, 19. Forsake 
thy sins, or else thou canst not find mercy, 
Prov. xxviii, 23. Thou canst not be married 
to Christ, except thou’ be divorced from sin ; 
give up that traitor, or you'can have no peace 
in heaven; cast the head of Sheba over the 
wall; keep not Delilah in the lap: thou must 
part ‘with thy sin or with thy soul; if thou 
spare even one sin, God will not spare thee.— 
Never make excuses, thy. sins must die,. or 
thou must dié for them, Psalm xviii, 21. If 
thou allow of one siny though: but a little, a 
secret one, though thou mayest plead necessity, 
and have a hundred shifts and excuses for it, 
the life of thy soul must go for the life of that 
sin, Ezek. xviii, 21; and will it not be dearly 
bought? 

oO sinner ! hear and Gonsider:: ie thou “wilt 


128 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 


part with thy sins, God will give thee his Christ. 
Is not this’a fair exchange? I testify unto thee 
this day, that if thou perish it} is not because 
there was not a Saviour provided, nor life ten- 
dered, but because thou  preferrest (with the 
J ews) the murderer. before the Saviour, sin be- 
fore Christ, and “lovest darkness rather than 
light,” John iii, 19. Search thy heart therefore 
with candles, as the Jews did their houses for 
leaven before the passover ; labour to find out 
thy sins; enter into thy closet, and_consider, 
What evil have. I livedin? What duty have I 
neglected toward God? What sin have I lived 
in against my brother? «And -now strike the 
darts through the heart of thy sin, as Joab did 
through Absalom’s, 2 Sam. xviii, 14. Never 
stand. looking. upon thy sin, nor rolling the 
sweet morsel under thy tongue, Job xx, 12, 
but spit it out as poison, with fear and detesta- 
tion. Alas! what will -thy sins do for thee, 
that thou shouldest stick at parting with them ? 
They will flatter thee, but they will undo thee, 
and cut thy throat while they smile upon thee, 
poison. thee while they please thee, and arm 
the justice and wrath of the infinite God against 
thee. ‘They will open hell for thee; and pile 
up fuel to burn thee: behold the gibbet that 
they.have prepared for thee. O serve them 
like Haman, and execute them as they would 
have done thee: away with them, crucify them, 
and let Christ only be Lord over thee. 

Direct. VI.“ Make a solemn choice of God 
for thy portion and blessedness,” Dent. xxxi, 


DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 129 


17. With all possible devotion and veneration, 
avouch the Lord for thy God; set the world, 
with all its glory and paint and gallantry, with 
all its pleasures and promotions, on the one 
hand ; and set God, with all his excellencies 
and perfections on the other, and see that thou 
do deliberately make thy choice, Josh. xxvi, 15. 
Take up thy rest in God, John vi, 68; sit thee 
down under his shadow, Cant. ui, 3; let his pro- 
mises and perfections turn the scale against all 
the world: settle it upon thy heart. “that the 
Lord is an all-sufficient portion ; that thou canst 
not be miserable while thou hast God to live 
upon: take him for thy shield and exceeding 
great reward. God alone is more than all the 
world, content thyself with him: let others carry 
the preferments and glory of the world, place 
thou thy happiness.in his favour, and in the light 
of his countenance, Psalm iv, 6, 7. 

Poor sinner ! thou art fallen off from God, and 
hast provoked his power and wrath against thee ; 
yet know that of hisabundant grace he doth offer 
to be thy God in Christ, 2 Cor. vi, 17, 18. What 
sayest thou, man? Wilt thou have the Lord fer 
thy God? Why, take this counsel and thou shalt 
have him, come to him by his Christ, John xvi, 
6; renounce the idols of thy own pleasures, 
gain, and reputation, 1 Thess. 1, 9; let these 
be pulled out of their throne, and set God’s 
interest uppermost in thy heart. Take him as 
God, to be chief in thy affections, estimations, 
intentions, for he will not endure to have any set 
above him, Rom. 1, 24; Psalm xxiii, 28. 

9 


130 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 


Direct. VH. “ Accept of the Lord Jesus in 
all his offices, with all his inconveniencies, as 
thine.” Upon these terms Christ may be had. 
Sinner, thou hast undone thyself, and art plung- - 
ed-into a state of most deplorable misery, out 
of which thou -art unable to get; but Jesus 
Christ is able and ready to help thee, and free- 
ly tenders himself to thee, Heb. vii, 25; John 
iii, 30, -Be thy sins ever so many, ever. so 
great,-or ofvever so long continuance, yet thou 
shalt be most certainly’pardoned and saved, if 
thou dost not wretchedly neglect the offer that, 
inthe name of God, is here made to thee.— 
The Lord Jesus calleth thee to look to him and 
be saved, Isa. xiv, 22; to “come unto him, and 
he will in nowise cast thee out,” John vi, 37 ; 
yea, he is a suitor to thée, and beseeches thee to 
be reconciled, 2 Cor. v, 20; he crieth in the 
streets, he knocketh at Shes door, he wooeth 
thee to accept of him, and live with him, Prov. 
i, 20; Rev. iii, 20. If thou diest, it is because 
thou wouldest not come to him for life, John 
v, 40. 

Now accept of an offered Christ, and thot 
art made for ever ; now give up thy consent to 
him, and the match is made; all the world can- 
not hinder it. Do not stand off because of 
thy unworthiness, man ; I tell~ thee, nothing in 
the world can undo thee but thy unwillingness. 
Speak, man, art thou desirous of the match? 
Wilt thou have Christ in all his relations to be 
thine ; thy King, thy Priest, thy Prophet ? Wilt 
thou have him with his in 36riveniencies? Take 


DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 131 


not Christ hand over head, but sit down first and 
count the cost. Wilt thou lay at his feet ? Wilt 
thou be content to run all hazards with him? 
Wilt thou take thy lot with him, fall where it 
will? Wilt thou “ deny thyself, and take up thy 
cross, and follow him?” Art thou deliberately, 
understandingly, freely, fixedly determined to 
cleave to him in all times and conditions ? Ifo, 
my soul for thine thou shalt never perish, but 
art passed from.death unto life, John in, 16. 
Here lies the main point of thy salvation, that 
thou be found in thy covenant closure with Jesus 
Christ ; and, therefore, if thou lovest thyself, 
see that thou be faithful to God, and ses soul 
here. 

Direct. VIII. « Resign up all thy powers and 
faculties, and thy whole interest, to be his.” 
“They gave their own selves ‘unto the Lord,” 
2 Cor. vill, 5. “Present your bodies a living 
sacrifice,” Romans xii, 1. The Lord seeks not 
yours, but you: resign therefore thy body with 
all its members to him, and thy soul with all its 
powers, that he may be glorified in thy body, and 
in thy spirit, which are his, 1 Cor. vi, 20. 

Again: thou must give up thy whole interest 
to him. If there be any thing that thou keepest 
back from Christ, it will be thy undoing, Luke 
xiv, 33. Unless thou wilt forsake all, Cin pre- 
paration and resolution of thy heart,) thou canst 
not be his disciple: thou must hate father and 
mother, yea, and thy own life also, in compari- 
son of him, and as far as it stands in competi- 
tion with him, Matt. x, 37; Luke xiv, 27, &c. 


132 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 


In. a word, thou must give him thyself, and all 
that thou raat without reservation, or else thou 
canst have no part in him. 

Direct. IX... “Make choice of the ee of 
Christ as the rule of thy words, thoughts, and 
actions,” Psalm cxix, 30, This is “the true 
convert’s choice: but here remember. these 
three rules: 1. “ You must choose them all ;” 
there is no getting to heaven by a partial obe- 
dience: read Psalm ecxix, 6,128, 160; Ezek. 
xvill, 21. None must think it enough to take 
up with the cheap and easy part of religion, and 
let alone the duties that are costly and self: 
denying, that grate upon the interest of the 
flesh ; you must take all or none. A sincere 
convert, though he makes most conscience of 
the greatest sins, and weightiest duties, yet he 
makes true conscience of little sins, and of all 
ae Psalm cxix, 6,118; Matt. xxi, 23. 

2.“ Forall times,” for prosperity and adversity, 
whether it rain or shine. A true convert is 
resolved in his way, he will stand to his choice, 
he will not set his back to the wind, and be of 
the religion of the times. “I have stuck to thy 
testimonies ; I have inclined my heart to thy 
statutes, always, evenunto the end. ‘Thy testi- 
monies have [ taken as a heritage for ever; I 
will have respect to thy statutes continually,” 
Psalm exix, 31, 44, 93,111,117. This must 
not be done, hand ‘over head, but. deliberately 
and understandingly. The disobedient son said, 
“ [ go, sir,” but he went not, Matt. xxi, 30. How 
fairly did they promise. All that the Lord our 


DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 133 


God-shall speak unto thee, we will doit! And 
it is likely they spoke as they meant ; but when 
it came to the trial, it was found that ‘there was 
not such a heart in them as to do what they had 
promised, Deut. v, 27,295 0°. . 

Thirdly. “ Observe the special duties that thy 
heart-is most against, and the special sins that 
it is most inclined to; and see whether it be 
truly resolved to perform'the one and forego the 
other.” What sayest thou to thy bosom sin, thy 
gainful sin? What sayest thou to costly, hazard- 
ous, and flesh-displeasing duties ? If thou haltest 
here, and dost not resolve, by the grace of God, 
to cross the flesh, and go on, thou art unsound, 
Psalm xviii, 23, and cxix. 

Direct. X. “ Take heed of delaying ~“— con- 
version, and set about a speedy and present 
turning ;” “I made haste and delayed not,” 
Psalm cxix, 60. Remember arid tremble at the 
sad instance of the foolish virgins, that came not 
till the door of mercy was shut, Matt. xxv, 11, 
_ and of a convinced Felix, who put off Paul to 
another season, which we donot find ever came, 
‘Acts xxiv, 25. O come in while it is called to- 
day, lest thou shouldest be hardened through the 
deceitfulness of sin, lest the day of grace should 
be over, and “ the things that belong to thy peace 
should be hid from thine eyes.” .Now mercy 
is wooing thee, now Christ is waiting to be gra- 
cious to thee, and the Spirit of God is striving 
with thee : now ministers are calling : now con- 
science is stirring: now the market is open, and 
_ thou mayest buy oil: now Christ is offered for 


134 DIRECTIONS FOR ten amy 


thy acceptance, 0 strike in with the offers of 
grace ;/O! now ornever. If thou make light 
of this offer,,God may swear-in his wrath thou 
shalt not taste of his supper, Luke xvi, 24. 

Direct. XI. “ Attend .conscientiously. upon 
the word as the means appointed -for thy con- 
version,” James 1, 193° 1.Cor. iv, 15. Attend, 
I say, not customarily, but conscientiously ; with 
this desire, design, hope, and expectation, that 
thou mayest be converted by it. To every ser- 
mon thou shouldest come with this thought: “O 
I hope that God will now come in; I hope this 
day may be the time, this may be the man by 
whom God will bring me home.” ~When thou 
art coming to the ordinances, lift up. thy heart 
thus to God: “ Lord, let this be the Sabbath, let 
this be, the season, wherein I may receive re- 
newing grace. O let it be said, that to-day such 
a one was born unto thee!” 

Direct. XII. “ Strike in with the Spirit when 
he begins to work upon thy heart.” When he 
works convictions, O do not stifle them, but join 
in with him, and beg the Lord to carry on con. 
viction to conversion; “ Quench not the Spirit :” 
do not outstrive him. Do not resist him. Be- 
ware of stifling convictions with evil company or 
worldly business. When thou findest any troubles 
for sin, and fears about.thy eternal. state, beg 
God that he may never leave thee till they have 
wrought off thy heart thoroughly from sin, and 
brought it over to Jesus Christ. Say to him, 
‘“ Strike home, Lord, leave not the work in the 
midst. If thou seest that am not wounded 


DIRECTIONS FOR’ CONVERSION. 135 


enough, that I am not troubled enough; wound 
me yet deeper, Lord. O go te the bottom of my 
corruption, and let out the life blood of my sins.” 
Thus yield up thyself to the workings of the 
Spirit, and spread thy sails to his gusts. 
Direct. XIII. “Set upon the constant and 
diligent: use of serious and fervent prayer.”— 
He that neglects- prayer is a profane and un. 
sanctified sinner, Job xv, 4; he that is not con- 
stant in prayer, is but a hypocrite, Job xxvii, 10. 
This is one of the first things conversion appears 
in, that it sets men. on. praying, Acts ix,11; 
therefore set to this duty: let never a day pass 
ever thee, wherein thou hast not, morning and 
evening, set apart some time fer set and solemn 
prayer in secret. Call thy family also together 
daily and duly, to worship God with thee. Wo 
be unto thee, if thine be found among the fami- 
lies that call net on God’s name, Jer. x, 25. 
But cold and lifeless devotions will not reach 
half way to heaven. — Be fervent and importu- 
nate; importunity will carry it, but without vio- 
lence the kingdom of heaven will not be taken, 
Matt. xi, 12. Thou must strive to enter, Luke 
xiii, 24; and wrestle with tears and supplica- 
tions, as Jacob, if thou meanest to carry the 
blessing, Gen. xxxii,-24, compared with Hosea 
xil,4. ‘Thou art undone for ever without grace, 
and therefore thou must set to-it, and resolve to 
take no denial: that man who is fixed in his 
resolution, says, “ Well, I must have grace, or, 
I will never give over till I have grace ; I will 
never leave seeking, waiting, and striving with 


136 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 


God-and my own heart, fill he does renew me 
by the power of his grace.’ ” This man Is in the 
likeliest way to win. grace. 

Direct. XIV. “ Forsake thy evil company, 
Prov. ix, 6; and forbear the occasion of sin,” 
Proy. xxiii, 31. Thou wilt never be: turned 
from sin, till thou wilt decline and forego the 
temptations of sin. 

I never expect thy conversion from sin, un- 
less thou art brought to such self-denial as to 
flee the occasions. If thou wilt be nibbling at 
the bait, and playing on the brink, and tamper- 
ing and meddling with the snare, thy soul will 
surely be taken. Where God doth expose men 
in his providence unavoidably to temptation; 
and the occasions are such as’ we cannot re- 
move, we may expect special assistance in 
the use of means ; but when we tempt God by 
running into danger, he will not engage to 
support us when we are tempted. And of all 
temptations, one of the most fatal and pernicious 
is evil company. O what hopeful beginnings 
have these often stifled! O- the souls, the 
estates, the -families, the towns, that these - 
have ruined! ~How many poor sinners. that 
have’ been enlightened and convinced, and 
been just ready to give the devil the slip, and 
have even escaped the snare, and yet wicked 
company have pulled them back at last, and 
made them sevenfold more the children of 
hell! . In a word, I have no. hopes. of thee, 
except thou wilt shake off thy evil company. 
Christ speaketh to thee as to them in another 


DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 137 


case, “ If thou seek me, then let these go their 
way,” John xviii, 8. Thy life lies upon it; 
forsake these or else thou canst not live, Prov, 
ix, 6. “Wilt thou be worse than the beast, to 
run on when thou seest the Lord with a drawn 
sword in the way? Numb. xxi, 33. Let this 
sentence be written in capitals upon thy con- 
science, A COMPANION OF FOOLS SHALL BE DE- 
STROVED, Prov. xiii, 20. The Lord hath spoken 
it, and who shall reverse it? And wilt thou 
run upon destruction when God himself doth 
forewarn thee? If God-doth ever change thy 
heart, it will appear in the change of thy com- 
pany. O fear and flee the gulf, by which so 
many thousand souls have been swallowed up 
in perdition! It will be hard for thee indeed to 
make thy escape; thy companions will be 
mocking thee out of thy religion, and will study 
to fill thee with prejudices against strictness, 
as ridiculous and comfortless. They will be 
flattering thee, and alluring thee ;. but remem- 
ber the warning of the Holy Ghost : ‘* My son, 
if sinners entice thee, consent thou not: If they 
say, Come with-us, cast in thy lot among us ; 
walk thou not in the way with them, refrain 
thy foot from their path, avoid it, pass by it, turn 
from it, and pass away: for the way of the 
wicked is darkness, they know not at what they 
stumble ; they lay wait for their own blood, they 
lurk privily for their own lives, Prov. i, 10,:18, 
and iv, 14,19, ~~. 

Thus have I told thee what ‘thou must der to 
be saved, ‘Wilt thou not obey the voice of the 


138 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 


Lord? Walt thou not arise and set to thy work ? 
O man! what answer wilt thou make, what ex- 
cuse wilt thou have, if thou shouldest perish at 
last through very wilfulness, when thou hast 
known the way of life? Ido not fear thy mis- 
carrying, if thine own idleness do not at last 
undo thee, in neglecting the use of the means 
that are'so plainly here prescribed. Rouse up, 
O sluggard ! and ply thy work :, be inc and 
the Lord will be with thee. 





CHAPTER VII. 
Containing the motives to conversion. 


THouer what is already said of the necessity 
of conversion, and of the miseries of the uncon- 
verted, might be sufficient to induce any con. 
sidering mind to resolve upon a present turning 
or conversion unto God, yet knowing what a . 
piece of desperate obstinacy and untractable. 
ness the heart of man naturallyis, [have thought 
it necessary to add to the means of conversion, 
and directions for a covenant closure with God 
and Christ, some motives to persuade you here- 
unto. 

“ Lord, fail me not now om: my last attempt : 
if any soul hath read hitherto, and is yet un- 
touched, now, Lord, fasten on him, and do thy 
work ; now take him by the heart, overcome 
him, persuade him, till he say, Thou hast pre- 
vailed, for thou wert stronger than I.. Lord, 


i f { 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. , ;,, ,139 


didst thou not make me a fisher of-men, and [ 
have toiled all this while and. caught. nothing ! 
Alas! that I should have spent my strength 
for nought. And now am casting my last.— 
Lord Jesus, stand thou. upon the shore, and 
direct how and where I shall spread my net ; 
and let me so-enclose with arguments the souls 
I seek for, that. they may not be able to get out. 
Now, Lord, for a multitude of souls! Now, for 
a full draught ! !-O Lord God, remember me, I 
pray thee, and. strengthen me this once, O 
God feist 

O! J am even lost and swallowed up in the 
abundance of those arguments that I might 
suggest. If there be any point of wisdom 1 in 
all the world, it is to repent and come ‘in. > If 
there be any thing righteous, any thing reason- 
able, this is it. If, there be any thing in the 
world that may be called madness and folly, 
and any thing that may be counted sottish, 
‘absurd, brutish, unreasonable, it is this,—to 
goon wm their unconverted state. Let me beg 
of thee, as thou wouldest not wilfully destroy 
thyself, to sit down and weigh, beside what 
has been said, these following motives, and let 
conscience. speak, if it be not reasonable thou 
Me: repent and turn. 

1. -“ The God that made thee does most 
graciously invite thee.” 

First. His most sweet .and merciful nature 
doth invite thee. O the kindness of God, his 
yearning bowels, his tender mercies! They 
are infinitely above our thoughts, higher than 


140 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 


heaven, what can we do? Deeper than hell, 
what can we know? Job xi,'7, 8,9. “ He is 
full of compassion, and gracious; long-suffer- 
ing, and plenteous in mercy,” Psa. Ixxxvi, 15. 
This is a great argument to persuade sinners 
to come in: “ Turn unto the Lord your God, 
for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, 
of great kindness, and repenteth him of the 
evil.” If God would not repent of the evil, 
it were some discouragement to us, why we 
should not repent. If there were no hope of 
mercy, it were no wonder why rebels should 
stand out; but never had subjects such a gra- 
cieus Prince; such pity, patience, clemency, 
piety, to-deal with, as you have. “ Who isa 
God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity ?” 
Micah vii, 18. Osinners! see what a God you 
have to-deal with; if you will but turn, “ he 
will turn again and have compassion on you ;” 
“ He will subdue your iniquities, and cast all 
your sins into the depth of the sea,” verse 19. 
‘¢‘ Return unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and 
I will return unto you,” Mal. ili, 7; Zech. i,3 
Sinners do not fail because they have too high 
thoughts of God’s mercies, but because, 1. ‘They 
overlook his justice. 2. They promise them- 
‘selves mercy out of God’s way, though a 
mercy is beyond all imagination, Isaiah lv, 9 
great mercies, 1 Chron. xxi, 13; manifold ee 
cies, Neh. ix, 19; tender’ mercier, Psa. xxv, 6; 
sure mercies, Isa. liv, 8; and all are thy own, 
if thou wilt but turn. Art thou willing to come 
in? Why, the Lord hath laid «aside his terror, 


MOTIVES’ TO CONVERSION.» 14] 


erected a throne of grace, holds forth the golden 
sceptre, touch and live. Would a merciful 
man slay his enemy when prostrate at his feet, 
acknowledging his wrong, begging pardon, and 
offering to enter with- him into a covenant of 
peace. Much less will the merciful God.— 
Study his name, Exod. xxxiv, 7; read their 
experience, Neh. ix, 17. 
Secondly. ‘ His soul-encouraging calls and 
promises do invite thee.” Ah, what an earnest. 
suitor is mercy to thee! How lovingly, how 
instantly it calleth after thee! How passion- 
ately it wooeth thee! Return, thou back- 
sliding Israel, saith the Lord, and_I will not 
cause my anger to fall upon you; for I am 
merciful, saith the Lord, and will not keep 
anger for ever! only acknowledge thine iniqui- 
ty. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the 
Lord, for 1am married unto you; return, and 
I will heai your backslidings. ‘Thou hast 
played-the harlot. with many lovers, yet return 
unto me, saith the Lord,’ Jer. iii, 11, 14, 22. 
“ As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no plea- 
sure in the death of the wicked, but that he 
turn from his. way and live. ‘Turn ye, turn 
ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die, 
O house of Israel?” Ezek. xxxiu, 11. “If 
the wicked man turn from all his sins that he 
hath committed; and. keep all my statutes, and 
do that which is lawful and right, he shall sure- 
ly live, he shall not die. All his transgressions 
that he hath committed shall not be mentioned 
to him: in his righteousness that he hath done 


142 MOTIVES TO- CONVERSION. 


shall he live. Repent, and turn you from all 
your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be 
your ruin, Cast away all your transgressions, 
and make you a clean heart and a new spirit, 
for why will ye die, O house of Israel ? For I 
have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, 
saith the Lord God ; wherefore turn yourselves, 
and live ye,” Ezek. xviui, 21, 22, 30, 32. 

O. melting, gracious: words ! The voice of a 
God,.and not of aman! This is not the man- 
ner-of men, for the offended sovereign to sue 
to the offending traitorous varlet. O how doth 
mercy follow thee and plead with thee! Is not 
thy heart broken yet? O that to-day thou — 
est hear his voice! . 

2. “The doors of heaven ‘are thrown pen 
to thee, the everlasting gates are set wide for 
thee, and an abundant entrance into the king- 
dom of heaven administered unto thee.” Christ 
now bespeaks thee as Jezebel did Ahab, “ Arise 
and take possession,’ 1 Kings xxi, 15. - View 
the glory of the other world as set forth in the 
map of the Gospel;. get thee up into Pisgah of 
the promises, and lift up thine eyes northward, 
and southward, and eastward, and westward, 
and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, 
and that goodly mountain; behold the paradise 
of God, watered with the streams of glory.— 
Arise, and walk through the land, in the length 
of it, and in the breadth of it, forthe land which 
thou seest, the Lord will give it thee for ever, 
if thou wilt but return, Genesis xiii, 14, 15, 17. 
Let. me say to thee as Paul to Agrippa, “ Be- 


MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 143 


lievest thou the prophets?” If thou believest 
indeed, do but. view what glorious things are 
spoken of the city of God,” Psalm Ixxxvii, 3, 
and know that all this is here tefdered in the 
name of God to thee: as verily as God is true, 
it shall be for ever thine, if thou wilt but tho. 
roughly turn and be converted. - 

Behold. the ‘city of pure transparent gold, 
whose foundations are garnished with all man- 
ner of precious stones, whose gates:are pearls, 
whose light is glory, whose temple is God.— 
Believest thou this? . If thou dost, art not thou 
worse than distracted, that wilt not take pos- 
session when the gates are flung open to thee, 
and thou art bid to enter? O ye'sons of folly, 
will ye embrace the dunghill, and refuse the 
kingdom? Behold, the Lord takes you up into 
the mountain, shows you the kingdom of hea- 
ven, and all the glory thereof, and tells you, 
“ All this will I give you, if you will fall down 
and worship me,” if you will submit to mercy, 
accept my Son, and serve me in righteousness 
and holiness. - “O° fools, and slow of heart. to 
believe !” Will you court the harlot ?- Will you 
seek and serve the world, and neglect eternal 
glory? What! not enter into paradise, when | 
the flaming sword which was once set to keep 
you out, is now used todrive you in! But you 
will say, fam uncharitable to think you infidels 
and unbelievers. Why, what shall I think of 
you? Either you are desperate unbelievers, 
that do not credit it, or stark distracted, that 
you know and believe the excellency and eter- 


144 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 


nity of this glory, and yet do so fearfully neglect 
it. Surely you have either no faith, or no rea- 
son, and I had almost said, conscience shall tell 
‘ou so before I leave you. 

Do but attend to what is offered you: A bless- 
_ ed kingdom! a “kingdom of glory,” 1 Thess. 
ii, 12; a “kingdom of righteousness,” 2 Peter 
ili, 13; a “kingdom of peace,” Rom. xiv, 17; 
and an “everlasting kingdom,” 2 Pet. 1, 11: 
here thou shalt dwell, here’ thou shalt reign for 
ever, and the Lord shall seat thee on a throne 
of glory, Matt. xix, 28, and with his own hand 
shall set the royal diadem upon thy head, and 
give thee a crown, not of thorns, for there ‘shall 
be no sinning nor suffering there, Rev. xxi, 27, 
and xxii, 3,5; not of gold, (for that shall be 
viler than the dirt in that day,) but.a “ crown 
of life,”’ James, 1 1,12; a “crown of righteous- 
ness,” 2 Tim. iv, 8; a “crown of glory,” 1 Pet. 
v. 4; yea, “thou shalt put on glory asa robe,” 
1 Cor. xv, 48, and shalt “shine as the sun in 
the firmament, in the glory of thy Father.” 
Matt. xiii, 43. Look now upon thy dirty flesh, 
thy clay, thy worms’ meat: this very flesh, this 
lump, this carcass, shall be brighter than the 
stars, Daniel xu, 3. In short, thou shalt be 
made like unto the “angels of God,” Luke XX, 
36, and “behold his face in righteousness,” 
Psalm xvii, 15. Look in now, and tell me, 
Dost thou yet believe? If not, conscience must 
pronounce thee an infidel ; for it is the very word 
of God that I speak. 

But_if thou say thou believest, let me next 


MOTIVES TO- CONVERSION. 145 


know thy resolutions. Wilt thou embrace this 
for thy happiness? Wilt thou forego thy sinful 
gains, thy forbidden pleasures? Wilt thou 
trample on the world’s esteem, and spit in the 
harlot’s face, and stop thy ears at her flatteries, — 
and wrest thee out of herembraces? Wilt thou 
be content to take up with reproach and poverty, 
if it lie in thy way to heaven, and follow the 
Lord with humble self-denial in a mortified and 
flesh-displeasing life? If so, all is thine,-and 
that for ever. 

And art thou not-fairly offered? Is it not 
pity but he should be damned that will needs 
go on and perish, when all this may be had for 
the taking? Wilt thou take God at his word ? 
Wilt thou let go thy hold fast of the world, and 
rid thy hands of thy sins, and lay hold on eternal 
life? If not, let conscience tell thee whether 
thou art not distracted or bewitched that thou 
shouldest neglect. so happy a choice, by which 
thou mightest be made blessed for ever. 

3. “God will settle unspeakable privileges 
at present upon thee, 1 Cor. ii, 22; Heb. xii, 
22, 24. Though the full of your blessedness 
shall be deferred till hereafter, yet God. will 
give no little things in hand.” ~~ 

He will redeem you from your thraldom, 
John viii, 36 ; he-will pluck you from the paw 
of the lion, Col. i, 13; the serpent shall bruise 
your heel, and ‘you shall bruise his head, Gen. 
ili,,15 ; he shall deliver you from the. present 
evil world, Gal, i, 4; he will redeem you from 
the power of the grave, Psalm xlix, 15; and 

10 


146 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION, 


make the king of terrors a messenger of peace 
to you. He will take out the curse from the 
cross, Psalm cxix, 71; and make affliction the 
fining pot, the fan, the physic, to blow off the 
chaff, purify the metal, and purge the mind, 
Dan. xii, 10; Isa. xxvii, 9." He will save you 
from the arrest of the law, and turn the curse 
into a blessing to you, Rom. vi, 14; Gal. iii, 24. 
He hath the keys of hell and death, and shut- 
teth that no man openeth, Rev. iui, 7, and 1, 
18; and he will shut his mouth, as-once he did 
the lions’, Dan. vi, 22; that you shall not be 
hurt of the second death, Rev. ii, 11. -_ ~ 

But he will not only save you from misery, 
but install you into unspeakable prerogatives. 
-He will bestow himself upon you, he will be a 
friend unto you, anda Father to you, 2 Cor. vi, 
18, he will be a sun and a shield to Pf Psalm 
Ixxxiv,11. In a word, he will be a God to you, 
Gen. xvii, 7, and what can be said more? What 
you may expect that God should do for you, 
and be to you, that he will, and he will do. 
She that marries a prince, expects that he 
should do for her like a prince, that she may 
live in a suitable state,and have an answerable 
dowry: he that hath a king for. his father, or 
friend, expects he should do for him like a 
king! Alas! the kings and monarchs of the 
earth, so much above you, are but like the 
painted butterflies among the rest of their kind, 
or the fair coloured palmer worm, among the 
rest of the worms, if compared with God. As 
he doth infinitely exceed the glory and power of 


MOTIVES TO CONVERSION, 147, 


his glittering dust, so he will, beyond all propor- 
tion, exceed i in doing for his Sepirites whatever 
princes can do for theirs. He will “ give you 
grace and glory, and withhold no good thing 
from you,” Psalm Ixxxiv, 11. He willtake you 
for his sons and daughters, and make you heirs 
of his promises, Heb. vi, 173 and establish his 
everlasting covenant. with you, Jer. xxxi, 40. 
He will justify you from all that law, conscience, 
and Satan, ean charge upon you, Rom. vil, 33, 
34. He will give you free access into his 
presence,-and accept your person, and receive 
your prayers, Eph. iii, 12, and i, 6; 1 John v, 
11. He will abide in you, and make you the 
man of his secrets, and hold a constant and 
friendly communion-with you, John xiii, 23, and 
xv, 15; 1 Johni, 3. His ear shall “be open, 
his door open, his store open at all times to you. 
His blessings: shall rest upon: you, and he will 
make your enemies to serve you, and work out 
“all things for good unto you,” Psa. cxv, 13; 
Rom. viii, 28. 

4. “ The terms of merey are brought as low 
as possible to you.” .God hath stooped as low 
to sinners as with honour he can: he will not 
be thought the author of sin, nor stain the glory 
of his holiness: and whither could he come 
Jower than he: hath, unless he should do this? 
He hath abated the impossible.terms of the 
first covenant, Jer. ili, 23; Mark-v, 30; Acts 
xvi, 31, and 11,19; Prov. xxviii, 13... He doth 
not impose any thing unreasonable or impos- 
‘sible as a condition of life upon you: two things 


148 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 


were necessary to be done, according to the 
tenor of the first covenant : 1. “ That you should 
fully satisfy the demands. of justice for past 
offences. 2. That you should perform per- 
sonally, perfectly, and perpetually, the whole 
law for the time to come. Both these, are to 
us impossible, Rom. viii, 3; but behold God’s 
gracious abatement in both = he doth not stand 
upon satisfaction ; he is content to take of the 
Surety (and he of his own providing too) what 
he might have exacted from’ you, 2 Cor. v, 19. 
He declares himself to have received a ransom, 
Job xxxill, 24; 1-Tim. 11,6; and that he ex- 
pects nothing but that you should -accept his 
Son, and “he shall be righteousness and re- 
demption to you,’ John i, 12-; 1 Cor. i, 30. 
And for the future obedience, hewe he is content 
to yield to your weakness, and omit the rigour. 
He doth not stand upon perfection as a condition 
of life, though he still insists upon it as his due, 
but is content to accept of sincerity, Gen. xvii, 
1; Prov. xi, 20. . Though you cannot pay the 
full debt, he will accept you according to that 
which you have, and take willingness for doing, 
and the purpose for the performance, 2 Cor. viil, 
12; 2 Chron. vi, 8; Heb. xi, 17; and if you 
come in his Christ, and set. your hearts to please 
him, and make it the ‘chief of your care, he will 
approve and reward you, though 3 vessel be 
marred in your hands. 

O! consider your Maker’s detpesciaome : 
let me say to you as Naaman’s servant to him, 
“ My father, if the prophet had bid thee do 


MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 149 


some great thing, would you not have done it? 
How much rather: when he saith to thee, Wash 
and be clean?’ 2 Kings v, 13. If God had 
demanded some terrible thing, some severe. and 
rigorous thing of you, to escape eternal damna- 
tion, would you not have done it? Suppose it 
had been to spend all your days in sorrow in 
some howling wilderness, or pine yourselves 
with famine, or to “ offer the fruit of your bodies 
for the sin of your souls,” would you not have 
thankfully accepted eternal redemption, though 
these had been the conditions? If your offended 
Creator should have held you but one year upon 
the rack, and then bid you come and forsake 
your -sins, accept Christ and-serve him a few 
years in self-denial, or. lie in this case for ever 
and ever, do you think youshould have stuck at 
the offer, and disputed the terms, and have been 
unresolved whether you were to accept of the 
motion? O sinner, return andlive; why shouldest 
thou die, when life is to be-had for the taking, 
when mercy seems beholden to thee (as it were) 
to be saved? Couldest thou say indeed, “Lord, 
I knew that thou wast a-hard man,” Matt. xxv, 
24, thou hadst some little excuse ; but when the 
God of heaven has stooped.so low, and conde- 
scended so far, if now thou shouldest stand off, 
who shall plead. for thee ? : 

Objection. Notwithstanding all these abate- 
ments, [ am no more able to perform these con- 
ditions (in themselves so easy) of faith, repent- 
ance, and sincere obedience, than to satisfy and 
fulfil the law. 


150 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 


Answer. These you may perform, by God’s 
grace enabling, whereas the other is naturally, 
impossible in this state,even to believers them- 
selves.. But let the next consideration serve for 
a fuller answer. 

5. “ Wherein you are impotent, God doth 
offer grace to enable. you.” “TI have stretched 
aM my hand, and ne man regarded,” Prov. 1, 

What though thou art plunged into the 
ditch of that misery from which you can-never 
get-out? Christ offereth to-help you out; he 
reacheth out his hand to you, andif you perish, 
it is for refusing his help. “ Behold, I-stand 
at the door and knock, if any man open unto 
me, I will come in,” Revelation i, 20. What 
though you are poor, and wretched, and blind, 
and naked? Christ offeréth a cure for your 
blindness, a covering for your nakedness, a 
remedy for your poverty ; he tenders you his 
righteousness, his grace. ‘I counsel thee to 
buy of me gold, that thou mayest be rich ; and 
white raiment, that.thou mayest be clothed ; 
and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou 
mayest see,” Rev. iii, 17, 18. Do you say the 
condition is impossible, for have not wherewith 
to buy! .You must know that this buying is 
“without money and without price,” Isa. ly, 1 
this buying is by begging and*seeking with 
diligence and constancy in the use of God’s. 
means, Prov. li, 3, 4. God commandeth. thee 
to know him and to fear him. Dost thou say, 
Yea, but my mind-is blind; and my heart is 
hardened from his fear! I answer, God. doth 


MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 151 


offer to enlighten thy mind, and to teach. thee 
this fear; that is presented ‘to thy choice, Prov. 
i, 29. “For that they hated knowledge, and 
did not choose the fear of the Lord. ‘So that 
now, if men live in ignorance and estrangement 
from the Lord, it is because they will not under. 
stand and desire the knowledge of his ways,” 
Job xxi, 14. “If thou criest after knowledge, 
if thou seekest her as silver, &c, then shalt thou 
understand the fear of the Lord and find the 
knowledge of God, Prov. ii, 3-5. Is not here 
a fair offer? “ Turn ye at my-reproof, behold, 
I will pour out my Spirit unto you,” Prov. i, 23. 
Though of yourselves you can do nothing, yet 
you may do all through his Spirit enabling you, 
and he doth offer assistance to you. God bids 
you “ wash, and make you clean,” Isa. i, 16. 
You say you are unable, as much as the leopard 
to wash out his spots, Jer. xiii, 23. Yea, but 
the Lord doth offer to purge you, so that if you 
be filthy still, it is through your.own wilfulness, 
Ezek. xxiv. 13. “ | have purged thee, and thou 
wast not purged,” Jer. xiii,27. “ O Jerusalem, 
wilt thou not. be made clean ?. When shall it once 
be 7?” God doth wait when you will be made 
elean ;. when you will yield to his. motions, ac- 
cept his offers, and let him do for you and in 
you, what you eannot do for yourselves. You 
do not know how much God will do upon your 
importunity,if you will be but restless and instant 
with him, Luke xi, 8, and xviii, 5. 

Though God hath not bound himself. by ex- 
press promise to wicked men, to give them grace, 


152. THE CONCLUSION. 


yet he hath given them abundance of encou- 
ragement to expect it from him, if they seek it 
earnestly i in his way. His most gracious nature 
is abundant encouragement. Ifa rich and most 
bountiful man should see thee in misery, and bid . 
thee come to his door, wouldest thou: not with 
confidence expect at thy coming to find some 
relief? God appoints thee to use such and such 
means in order to thy obtaining repentance and ~ 
_ faith; doth not this argue, that God will bestow 
these upon thee if thou dost ply him diligently 
in prayet, meditation, reading, hearing, self-ex- 
amination, and the rest of his means ? Otherwise 
God should but mock his poor creatures to put 
them upon these_self-denying endeavours, and 
then, when they have been hard put to it, and 
continued waiting upon him for grace, deny them 
at last. Surely, if a good-natured man would 
not deal thus, much less will the most merciful 
and gracious God. 





THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE, 


Anp now, my. brethren, let me know your 
minds ; what do you intend to do ; will you go 
onand die? Or, will you set upon a thorough 
and speedy conversion, and lay hold on eternal 
life 7, How long will ye linger in Sodom? “ How | 
long will ye halt between two opinions?” 
1 Kings xviii, 21. Are you not resolved 
whether Christ or Barabbas, whether bliss or 


THE CONCLUSION. 153 


torment, whether the land of Cabul,. 1 Kings 
ix, 18, or the paradise of: God, be the better 
choice ; is it a disputable case, whether the 
Abana and Pharpar.of Damascus, be better 
than all the streams of Eden; or whether the 
vile puddle of sin is to be preferred before the 
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of 


i the throne of God, and of the Lamb? Can the 


world, in good earnest, do that for you which 
Christ can? Will it stand by you to eternity ? 
Will pleasures, land, titles, or treasures, descend 
with you? Psalm xlix,17; 1 Tim. vi, 7. If 
not, had you not need look after somewhat that 
will? What mean you to stand wavering, to be 
off and on? Foolish children! how long will 
you stick between the womb and the world? 
Shall I lead you at last no farther than Agrippa, 
but almost persuaded ?. why, you are for ever 
lost if left there ; as good not at all, as not alto- 
gether Christians. Youare half in the mind to 
‘give over your former negligent life, and-set to 
a strict aad holy course ;~you could wish you 
were as‘some others are, and could do as they 
can do. How long will you rest in idle wishes 
and fruitless purposes? When will you come to 
a fixed, firm, and full resolve? Do not you see 
how Satan gulls you, by tempting you to delays? 
How long hath he drawn you:on in the way of 
perdition ? How many years have you been pur- 
posing tomend ? What if God should have taken 
you off this while ?: 

Well, put me not off with a dilatory answer : 
tell me not of hereafter, I must have your im- 


, 


154 THE CONCLUSION. 


mediate consent:.if you be not now resolved, 
while the Lord is treating with you, and court- 
ing you, much less are you like to be hereafter, 
when: these impressions are worn out, and you 
are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 
Will you give me your hands?~ Will you set 
open the doors, and give the. Lord Jesus the 
full and ready possession? - Will you put your 
names into his coyenant ? ‘Will you subscribe ? 
What do you resolve upon? If yoware still upon 
your delays, my labour is lost, and all is like to 
come to nothing. Fain I would that you should 
now put in your’adventures. Come, cast in 
your lot, make your choice. “Now is the ac- 
cepted time, now is the day of salvation: to-day 
if you-will hear his voice.” Why should not 
this be the day from whence thou shouldest be 
able to date thy happiness? Why shouldest thou 
venture a day longer in this dangerousanddread- 
ful condition? What if God should this night re- 
quire thy soul? “O that thou mightest know in 
this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace, 
before they be hid from thine eyes,” Luke xix, 
42. This is thy day, and it is but a day, John 
ix, 4. Others have had their day, and have re-. 
ceived their doom, and now art thou brought 
upon the stage of this world, here to act thy part 
for the whole eternity.. Remember thou art now 
upon thy good behaviour for everlasting ; if thou 
make not a wise choice now, thou art undone 
forever. Look what thy present choice is,such 
must thine eternal condition be, Luke x, 42, and 
xvl, 253. Prov. 1, 27-29. 


THE CONCLUSION. 155 


And is it true indeed? Is life and death at 
thy choice ? Yea, it is as true as truth is, Deut. 
vill, 14. Why then, what hinders, but that thou 
shouldest be happy ? Nothing doth or can hin- 
der, but thine own wilful neglect or refusal. It 
was the speech of the eunuch to Philip, “ See, 
iere is water, what doth hinder me to be bap- 
tized ?”’ So I may say to thee, See, here is 
Christ, here is mercy, pardon, and life; what _ 
hinders, but that thou shouldest -be pardoned 
and saved? One of the martyrs, as he was 
praying at the stake, had his pardon set by him 
ina box (which indeed he refused deservedly, 
because upon unworthy terms); but here . the 
terms are most honourable and easy. O sinner ! 
wilt thou burn with thy pardon by thee? Why, 
do but forthwith give up thy consent to Christ, 
to renounce thy sins, deny thyself, take-up the- 
yoke and the cross, and thou carriest the day : 
Christ is thine, pardon, peace, life, and blessed- 
ness, all are thine. And is not this an offer worth 
embracing? Why shouldest thou hesitate or 
doubtfully dispute about the ease? Is it-not past 
controversy, whether God be better than sin, and 
glory than vanity ? Why shouldest thou forsake 
thy own mercies, and sin against thy own life? 
When wilt thou shake off thy sloth, and lay by 
thine excuses ? “ Boast not thyself of to-morr ow, 
thou knowest not where this night may lodge 
thee,” Prov.. xxvii, 1. 

Beloved, now the Holy Spirit is striving with 
you; he will not always strive. Hast thou not 
felt thine heart warmed. by the word, and been 


156 THE. CONCLUSION. 


almost, persuaded to leave off thy sins and 
come intoGod? Hast thou not felt some good 
motions in thy mind, wherein thou hast been 
warned of thy danger, and told what thy care- 
less course would end in? It may be thou art 
like young-Samuel, who, when the Lord called 
once and again, knew not the voice of the 
Lord, 1 Sam, iii, 6,'7.. But these motions and 
items are the offers, and essays, and callings, 
and strivings of the Spirit: .O, take the advan- 
tage of the tide, and know the day of ay visit- 
ation. 

Now the Lord Jesus  stretcheth wide. his 
arms to receive you ; he beseecheth you by us. 
How movingly, how meltingly, how pitifully, 
how compassionately he ealleth! The Church 
is put into a sudden ecstasy upon the'sound of 
his voice, “ The voice of my beloved!” Cant. 
ii, 8. O, wilt thou turn a deaf ear to his voice ? 
It is not the voice that breaketh the cedars, and 
maketh the mountains to skip like a calf; that 
shaketh the wilderness, and divideth the flames 
of fire ; it is not Sinai’s thunder, but a soft and 
still voice; it is not the voice of Mount Ebal, 
a voice of cursing and terror, but the voice 
of Mount Gerizim, the voice of blessing, and 
of glad tidings of good things. It is not the 
voice of the trumpet, nor. the voice of war, but 
a messenger of peace from‘the King of peace, 
Eph. vi, 15; 2 Cor. v, 18, 20. Methinks it 
should be wilh thee as with: the spouse, “ My 
soul failed-me when. he spake,” Cant. v, 6. I 
may say to thee, O sinner, as Martha to her 


THE CONCLUSION. 157 


sister, “The Master-is come and. calleth for 
thee,” John xi, 28. O now with Mary arise 
quickly and come unto him. How sweet are 
his inyitations.. He crieth in the open con- 
course, “If any man thirst, let him come-unto 
me and drink,” John vii, 37; Prov. i, 21. He 
broaches his own bedy for thee. O come and 
lay thy mouth to his side. . How free is he? 
he excludeth none: “ Whosoever -will, let him 
come and take the water of life freely,” Rev. — 
xxii, 17. “ Whoso is simple, let him turn in 
hither.. Come, eat of my bread, drink of the 
wine that I have mingled. - Forsake the foolish 
and live,” Prov. ix, 4,6. “Come unto me, &c. 

take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and 
ye shall find rest to your souls,” Matt. vi, 28, 29. 

« Him that cometh to. me I will.in nowise cast 
out,’ John vi, 37. -How doth he bemoan the 
obstinate refuser! “ O Jerusalem! Jerusalem ! 
how often would I have gathered thy children, 
as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
and ye would not!” Matt. xxii, 37. “ Behold 
me, behold me; I have stretched out my hands 
all the day to a rebellious people,” Is. Ixv, 1, 2. 

O be persuaded now at last to throw yourselves 
into the arms of love. 

Behold, O ye sons of men, the Lord Jesus 
hath thrown open the prison, and now he com- 
eth to you as the magistrates. once to them, 
Acts xvi, 39, and beseeches you to come out. 
If it were froma palace or paradise that Christ 
did call you, it were .no wonder if you were 
unwilling ; (and yet how easily was Adam de- 


158 THE CONCLUSION. 


luded ‘thence !) but it is from your prison, sirs ; 
from your chains, from the dungeon, from dark. 
ness, that he calleth you, Isaiah xlii, 6, 7 ; and 
will you not come? - He calls you into liberty, 
Galatians v, 13; and will you not hearken :— 
His yoke is easy, his laws are liberty, his ser- 
vice freedom, Matt. xi, 30 ; James i, 25 ; 1 Cor. 
vil, 22; and whatever prejudice you may have 
against his ways, if a God may be believed, 
you shall find them all pleasure and peace, 
and shall taste sweetness and joy unutterable, 
and take infinite delight and felicity in them, 
Proverbs iii,.17; Psalm cxix, 103, 111, 165; 
1 Peter i, 8. 

Beloved, I am loath to leave you; [ Gant tell 
how to give you over. [am now ready to shut 
up, but would fain strike this-bargain between 
Christ and you before ['end. What! shall I 
leave you as I found you at last ?: Have you read 
hitherto, and are you not yet resolved upon a 
present abandoning all your sins, and. closing 
with Jesus Christ? . Alas! what shall I say? 
what shallI do? Will you resist all my impor- 
tunity? Have I run in vain? Have I used so 
many arguments, and spent so much time to per- 
suade you, and will you at last disappoint me ? 
But it is a small matter that you reject me ; you 
put a slight upon the God that made you, you 
reject the bowels and beseeching of a Saviour, 
and will be found resisters of the Holy Ghost, 
Acts vii, 51, if you will not now be’ prevailed 
with to repent and be converted. — ~ 

Well, though I have called you long, and you 


THE CONCLUSION. —* 159 


have refused, I shall yet this once more lift 
up my voice like a trumpet, and cry from the 
highest places of the city, before I conclude 
with a-miserable conclamatumest. Once more 
I shall call after regardless sinners, that, if it. be 
possible, I may awaken them: “ O earth, earth, 
earth, hear the word of the Lord,” Jer. xxii, 29. 
Unless you be resolved to die, lend your ears 
to the last calls of mercy. Behold, in the name 
of God I make open proclamation to you: 
‘“¢ Hearken unto me, O-ye children, hear instruc- 
tion, and be wise, and refuse it not,”’ Prov. vill, 
32, 33. | 

“« Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, 
buy and eat : yea, come, buy wine and milk with- 
out money and without price. Wherefore do you 
spend your money for that which is not bread, 
and your labour for that. which: satisfieth not? 
Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that 
which is good, and let your soul delight itself in 
fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me ; 
hear, and your soul shall live ; and I will make 
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure 
mercies of David,” Isa. lv;1, 3. 

Ho, every one that is of any manner of dis. 
ease or torment, Matt. iv, 23, 24, or is possessed 
of an evil spirit, whether of pride,-fury, or lust, 
or covetousness, come ye to the Physician, bring 
away your sick. Lo, here is he that “ healeth 
all manner of sicknesses, and all manner of dis- 
eases among the people.” 

Ho, every one that is in debt, and every one 


160 THE CONCLUSION. 


that is in distress, and every one that is discon- 
tented, gather yourselves unto Christ, and he 
will become a Captain over you ; he will be 
your protection from the arrest of the law ; he 
will save you from the hand of justice. Behold, 
he is an open sanctuary to you ; he is a known 
refuge, Heb. vi; 18 ; Psalm xivii; 3. Away with 
your sins, and come ee upon him, lest the avénger 
of blood seize you, lest ee wrath over- 
take you. 

Ho, every ignorant sinner, come and buy 
eye salve, that thou mayest see, Rev. iii, 18. 
Away with thy excuses ; thou art for ever lost 
if thou continuest in this state, 2 Cor. iv, 3; 
but. accept of Christ for thy Prophet, and he 
will be a light unto thee, Isaiah xl, 6; Ephe- 
siansv,14. Cry unto him for knowledge, study 
his word, take pains about the principles of 
religion, humble thyself before him, and he 
will teach thee his way, and make thee wise 
unto salvation, Matthew xii, 36; Luke viii, 9; : 
John v, 49. But if thou wilt aa follow him in 
the diligent use of his means, but idly sit down 
beeause thou hast- but one. talent, he will con- 
demn thee for a wicked and slothful servant, 
Matt. xxv, 24, 26. + 

Ho, every profane sinner, come in and live; 
return unto the Lord, and he will, have merey. 
on thee: O be entreated, return and come, 
thou that hast defiled thy mouth ‘with oaths 
and execrations. “ All. manner of sins and 
blasphemies shall be forgiven thee,” Matt. iii, 
28, if thou wilt but thoroughly turn unto Christ, 


THE CONCLUSION. 161 


and come in. Though thou wast as unclean as 
Magdalene, yet “ put away thy whoredoms out 
of thy sight, and thy adulteries from between 
thy breasts,” and give up thyself unto Christ 
as a vessel of holiness, fit for his use; and 
then, “ though.thy sins be as scarlet, they shall 
be as white as snow; and though they be red 
like crimson, they*shall be as wool,” Luke vil, 
47; Isaiah i, 18. 

Hear, O ye drunkards! “ How long will ye 
be drunken ? Put away your wine,’ > | Samuel 
i, 14. Though you have rolled in the vomit of 
your sin, take the vomit ‘of repentance, and 
thoroughly disgorge your beloved lusts, and 
the Lord will receive you, 2 Corinthians vi, 17. 
Give up yourselves to Christ, fo live soberly, 
righteously, and godly. Embrace his righte- 
ousness, accept his government, and though 
you have been swine, he well wash you, Revela- 
tion 1, 5. 

Hear, O ye loose companions, whose delight 
isin vain and wicked society, to sport away 
your time in carnal mirth and jollity with 
them; come in at Wisdom’s call, and choose 
her and her ways, and you shall live, Proverbs 
ix, 5, 6. 

Hear, O. ye scorners! hear the word of the 
Lord; though you have made a sport at god- 
liness and the professors thereof, though you 
have made a scorn of Christ and of his ways, 
yet even to you doth he call, to gather you 
under the wings of his mercy, Prov. i, 22, 23. 
In a word, though you should be found among 

11 


162 THE CONCLUSION. 


the worst of. the black roll, k Cor. vi, 9, 10; 
yet upon your thorough conversion you shall be 
washed, you shall be justified, you shall. be 
sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
by the Spirit of our God, verse 11. 

Ho, every formal proféssdr, that art but a luke- 
warm Christian, and restest in the form of god- 
liness, give over thy halving and thy halting, be 
a Christian throughout, be zealous. and repent ; 
and then, though thou hast been an offence to. 
Christ’s stomach, thou shalt be the joy of his 
heart, Rey. 11, 16, 19, 20. ; 

And now-bear witness that mercy hath been 
offered you: I call heaven and earth.to record 
“ against you this day, that I have set before 
you life and death, blessing and cursing ; there- 
fore choose life that you may live,” Deut. xxx, 
19. I can but woo and warn you: I cannot 
compel you to be happy, if-I could I would. 
What answer will you send me with to my Mas- 
ter? Let me speak to you, as Abraham’s servant 
to them, “ And now if you will deal kindly and 
truly with my master, tell me,” Genesis xxiv, 
49. O for such a happy answer as. Rebekah 
gave them, verses 57,58. . “ And they said, We 
will call the damsel, and: inquire at her mouth. 
And ‘they called Rebekah, and said unto her, 
Wilt thou go with this man? and she said, I 
will-go.” O that I had- but this-from you! 
Why should I be your accuser, Matt. x, 14, 15, 
who thirst for your salvation? Why should the 
passionate pleadings and wooings of mercy be 
turned into the horrid: aggravation of your ob- 


THE CONCLUSION. 163 


stinacy, and additions to your misery ? Judge 
in yourselves ; Do you not think their condem. 
nation will be doubly dreadful, that shall go on 
in their sins after all éndeavours to recall them ? 
Doubtless, “ It shall be more tolerable for Tyre 
and Sidon, yea, for Sodom and Gomorrah, in 
the day of hp lea than for you,” Matthew 
X1, 22, 24. 

Beloved, if you Have any ily for your per- 
ishing souls, close with the present offers’ of 
mercy : if you would not continue and increase 
the pains of your travailing ministers, do not 
stick in the birth... If the God that made you 
have an authority with you, obey his command, 
and come in. If you are not the despisers of 
grace, and would not shut up the doors of mercy 
against yourselves, repent and be converted : let 
not heaven stand open for you in vain : let not 
the Lord Jesus-open his wares, and bid you buy 
without money and without price, in vain: let 
not his ministers and his Spirit strive with you 
in vain, and leave you now at last unpersuaded, 
lest the sentence go forth against you, “The 
bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the 
fire, the founder melteth in vain, reprobate silver 
shall men call them, because the Lord hath 
rejected them,” Jer. vi, 29, 30. 

Father of spirits, take the heart in hand that 
is too hard for my weakness; do not thou end, 
though I have done: half a word from thy effec- 
tual power will do the work. O thou that hast 
the key of David, that openest and no man shut- 
teth, open thou this heart as thou didst Lydia’s, 


164 THE CONCLUSION. 


and let the King of glory enter in, and make this 
soul:thy captive! Let not the tempter harden 
him in delays; let him not stir from this place, 
nor take his eyes from these lines, till he be 
resolved to forego his sins and:accept of life on 
thy self-denying terms.. In thy name, O Lord 
God, did I go forth to these labours, in thy name 
do I shut them up. Let not all the time they 
have-cost be lost hours; let not all the thoughts 
of heart, and all the pains that have been about 
them, be butlost labour. Lord, putin thy hand 
into the heart of this reader, and send thy Spirit, 
as once thou didst Philip, to join himself to the 
chariot of the eunuch, while he was reading the 
word. And though I should never know it 
while I live, yet I beseech thee, O. Lord God, 
let it be found at that day that some souls are 
converted by these labours; and. let some be 
able to stand forth and say, that by these per- 
suasions they were won unto thee. Amen, 
Amen. . Let him that readeth say, Amen. 


t 


A CALL 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


pee 


“ Say unto them, As I live, saith.the Lord God, I have no 
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked 
turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your 
evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” Ezek. 
xxxili, 11. . 

Ir has been the wonder of many, to read in 
the Holy Scripture how few will be saved ; and 
that the greatest part even of those that are 
called, will be shut out of heaven, and tormented 
with the devils in eternal fire. Infidels believe 
not this, and therefore must feel it. Those that 
do believe it, are forced to cry out with St. Paul, 
Rom. -xi, 33, O the depth of the riches both of 
the wisdom and knowledge of God! How un- 
searchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
finding owt! But nature itself teaches us all to 
lay the blame of evil works upon the doers ; and 
therefore when we see any heinous thing com- 
mitted, a principle of justice provokes us to in- 
quire for them that did it. If we saw a man 
killed, and cut in pieces by the way, we should 
presently ask, “ O who did this cruel deed?” If 
a town were set on fire, you would ask, “ What 
wicked wretch did this?”” So when we read that 
the most will be firebrands of hell for ever, we 
must needs think with ‘ourselves, How comes 
this to pass? Who is it that can be so cruel as 


166 COUNSEL FOR PERSONAL 


the power of godliness in the life: let piety be 
your first and great ‘business; it is. the highest 
point of justice to give God his due. Beware 
that none of you be a prayerless person; for 
that is a most certain discovery that you are a 
Christless and graceless person; or one that is 
a very stranger to the fear of. God, Psalm y, 7. 
Suffer not your Bibles to gather dust ; see that 
you converse daily with the word, John y, 39. 
That man can never lay claim. to blessedness, 
whose delight is not in the law of the Lord, Psa. 
Pe ee Let meditation and. self- examination be 
your daily exercise. 

But piety without charity 4 is but. the half of 
Christianity ; or rather impious hypocrisy. We 
may not divide the table: see therefore that 
you do justly and love mercy, and let equity and 
charity run like an even. thread throughout all 
your dealings. Be you temperate in all things, 
and let chastity and sobriety be your undivided 
companions. Let. truth and- purity, serious- 
ness and modesty, heavenliness and gravity, 
be the constant ornaments of your speech. Let 
patience and humility, simplicity and sincerity, 
shine out in all the parts of your conversation. 
See that you forget and. forgive wrongs, and 
requite them with kindness, as you would be 
found the children of the Most High. Be mer- 
ciful.in your censures,.and put the most favour- 
able construction upon your brethren’s carriage, 
that their actions will reasonably bear. Be slow 
in promising, punctual in fulfilling. Let meek- 
ness and innocence, affability, yieldingness, and 


AND FAMILY GODLINESS. 167 


simplicity, commend ;your conversation to all 
men. Let none of your relations want that love 
and loyalty, reverence and duty, that tenderness, 
care, and vigilance, which their several places 
and capacities call for. This is thorough god- 
liness. I charge you before the most high God, 
that none of you be found a swearer, or a liar, 
ora lover of evil company, or a scoffer, or mali- 
cious, or covetous, or a drunkard, or a glutton, 
unrighteous in his dealings, unclean in his living, 
or a quarreller, or a thief, or a backbiter, ora 
railer ; for I denounce.unto you from the living 
God, that destruction and damnation is the end 
of all such, Prov. xiii, 20; James v, 12; Rev. 
xxl, 8; 1 Cor. vi, 9, 10; Gal. v, 19—21. 

2. Family godliness. He that hath set up 
Christ in his heart, will be sure to study to set 
him up in his house.:. Let every family with 
you be a Christian Church, 1 Cor. vi, 19; every 
house a house of prayer: let every householder 
say with Joshua, “I; and my house will serve 
the Lord,” chap. xxiv, 15; and resolve’ with 
David, “ I will walk in my house with a perfect 
heart,” Psalm ci, 2.. Let me press upon you a 
few duties in general. 

First. Let religion be in your families, not 
as a matter by the by (to be minded at leisure, 
when the. world will give you leave) but the 
standing business of the house: let them have 
your prayers as duly as their meals. Is there 
any of your families but have time for their 
taking food? wretched man! canst thou not 
as well find time to pray in? 


168 COUNSEL FOR PERSONAL 


Secondly. Settle it upon your hearts, that 
your souls are bound up in the souls of your 
family ; they are committed unto you, and if 
they be lost through your neglect, they will be 
required at your hands. Sirs, if you do not, 
you shall know that the charge of souls is a 
heavy charge, and that the blood of souls is 
heavy guilt. O man, hast thou a charge of souls 
to answer for, and dost thou not bestir thyself 
for them, that their blood be not found: in thy 
skirts? Wilt thou do no more for immortal 
souls than thou wilt do for the beasts that 
perish?’ What dost.thou do for thy children and 
servants? ‘Thou providest meat and drink for 
them agreeable to their nature; and dost thou 
not the same for thy beasts? Thou givest them 
medicines, and cherishest them when they are 
sick ; and dost thou not the same for thy swine ? 
More particularly, 

1. Let the solemn. reading of the wid of 
God, and singing of psalms, be your family 
exercises, John v, 39; Psalm cxviii, 15. See 
Christ singing with his famnilys wer kif his 
disciples, Matt. xxvi, 30. 

2. Let every person in your families be as 
duly called to an account of their profiting by 
the word heard or read, as*they be about doing 
your own business :~this -is a duty of conse- 
quence unspeakable, and would be a means to 
bring those under your charge to remember 
and profit by what they receive.. See Christ’s- 
example in calling his family to mocarte Matt. 
xvi, 11, 13, 15. | 


4 


AND FAMILY GODLINESS. .- 169 


3. Often take an account of the souls under 
your care, concerning their spiritual states ; 
(herein you must be followers of Christ, Matt. 
xili, 10, 36, 51; Mark iv, 10, 11;) make in- 
quiry into their condition. Insist: much upon 
the sinfulness and misery of their natural state, 
and upon the necessity of regeneration and - 
conversion, in order to’their salvation. Ad- 
monish them gravely of their sins, encourage 
their beginnings, follow them earnestly, and let 
them have no quiet from you, until you see in 
them a saving change. This is a duty of very 
great consequence, but Iam afraid most fear- 
fully neglected: doth not conscience say,— 
“ Thou art the man 2?” 

4. Look to the strict sanctifying of the Sabbath 
by all your household, Exod. xx, 10; Lev. xxiii, 
3. Many poor families have little time else; 
O improve but your Sabbath days as diligently 
in labouring for knowledge and doing your 
Maker’s work, as you do the other days in 
doing your own work, and I doubt not but you 
may come to some proficiency. 

5. Let the morning and evening sacrifices of 
solemn prayer be daily offered up in all your 
families, Psalm xcii, 1, 2; Exod. xxx, 7, 8; 
Luke i, 9,10. Beware ye be not found among 
the families that call not upon God’s name ; for 
why should there be wrath from the Lord upon 
your families? Jer. x, 25. O miserable fami- 
lies without God in the world, that are without 
family prayer! What; have you so. many family 
sins, family wants, family: mercies; what, and 


170 COUNSEL FOR PERSONAL 


yet no family prayers? How do. you pray with 
all-prayer and supplication if: you do not with 
family prayer? Eph. vi, 18. Say not; “I have 
no time.” What! hast thou not all thy time 
on purpose to serve God and save thy soul? 
And yet is this it for which thou canst find no 
time ? Find but a heart; and you will find time. 
Pinch out of your meals and sleep, rather than 
want for prayer. Say not, * My business will 
not give me leave.” This is the greatest busi- 
ness, to save thyself and the souls committed to 
thee. Business! a whet will, be not/et.. Ina 
word, the blessing of all is to be got by prayer, 
Jer. xxix, 11, 12;°2 Sam. vii, 29; and what is 
thy business without God’s blessing? Say not; 
“ Tam not able ;” use the one talent, and God 
will increase it, Matt. xxv, 24, &c. But if 
there is no other ‘remedy, thou must join with thy 
abler neighbour: God hath special regard to 
joint prayer, James v, 4,12; Acts xii, 5, 10, 
12 ;. 2. Cor. 1, 11 yand therefure you must ait 
prove family advantages for the performing of it. 

6. Put every one in your familtes upon pri- 
vate prayer. Observe whether they do perform 
it., Get them the help of a form if they need 
it, till they are able to pray without.it. Direct 
how to pray, by reminding them of their 
sins, wants, and mercies, the materials of prayer. 
This. was the practice of * ohn and of Jesus, 
Luke xi, 1, &c. 

7. Set up catechismg in your faerie at the 
least once every: week. Have you no dread of 
the Almighty’s charge, that-you should “teach 


AND FAMILY GODLINESS. LBL 


these things diligently to your children, and talk 
of them as they sit-in your houses?’ Deut. vi, 
6, &c. ; and “ train them up in the way wherein 
they should go?” Prov. xxii, 6. Hath God so 
commended Abraham, that he would “teach his 
children and household,” Gen. xviii, 10; and 
that he had many instructed servants, Gen. xiv, 
14, (see the-margin,) and given such a promise 
to him thereupon, and will you not put in for a 
share, neither in the praise nor the promise? 
Hath Christ honoured catechising with his pre- 
sence, Luke vi, 46; and will you not own it 
with your practice ? Say not, “ They are care- 
less and will not learn.”” What have you your 
authority for, if not to use it for God, and the 
good of their souls! You will call them up and 
force them to do your work ; and should you 
not, at least, be as zealous in putting them upon 
God’s work? Say not “They are dull,and are 
not capable:” if they be dull, God requires of 
you the more pains and patience: butso dullas 
they are, you will make them learn how to work ; 
and can they not:learn how to live? Are they 
capable of the mysteries of your trade, and are 
they not capable of the plain principles of reli- 
gion? Well, as ever you would see the growth 
of religion, the cure of ignorance, the remedy 
of profaneness, the downfall of error, fulfil you 
my joy, in going through with this duty 

Will you answer the calls of Divine Provi- 
dence? Would you remove the incumbent, or 
prevent the impendent calamities? Would you 
plant nurseries for the Church of God? Would 


fag.’ 


172 COUNSEL FOR GODLINESS. 


you that God should build your houses, and bless 
your substance? Would you that your children 
should bless you ? O then set up piety in your 
families, as ever you would be blessed, or be a 
blessing: let your hearts:and your houses be 
the temples of the living God, in which his wor- 
ship (according to all the aforementioned direc- 
tions) may be with constancy, reverently per- 
formed, Prov. xxix, 1. “He that being often 
reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be 
destroyed, and that without remedy :” O be wise 
in time, that you be not miserable to eternity ! 


A CALL 
TO 


THE UNCONVERTED. 


BY RICHARD BAXTER. 


ae 





MR. ALLEINE’S COUNSEL 


FOR PERSONAL AND FAMILY GODLINESS. 


Beoven, | despair of ever bringing you to 
salvation. without sanctification, or possessing 
you of happiness without persuading you to holi- 
ness. God knows I have not the least hope ever 
to see one of your faces in heaven, except you 
be converted, and sanctified, and exercise your- 
selves unto godliness. I beseech you, study 
personal godliness and family godliness. 

1. Personal godliness. .Let it be. your first 
care to set up Christ in your hearts: see. that 
you make all your worldly interests to stoop to 
him, that you be entirely and’ unreservedly de- 
voted unto him. If-you wilfully, and delibe- 
rately, and ordinarily harbour any sin, you are 
undone, Psalm Ixviii, 21 ; Ezek. xviii, 20. See 
that you unfeignedly take the law of Christ as 
the rule of your words, thoughts, and actions ; 
and subject your whole man, members, and 
minds, faithfully to him, Psalm cxix, 34; Rom. 
vi, 13. If you have nota true respect to all 
God’s commandments, you are unsound at heart, 
Psalm cxix, 6. O-study to get the image and 
impress of Christ upon you within. _ Begin 
with your hearts, else you build without any 
foundation.. Labour to get a saving change 
within, or else all external performances will 
be to no purpose: and then study to show forth 


¢ 


176 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


to be the cause of such a thing as this? And we 
can meet with few that will own the guilt. It is 
indeed confessed by all, that Satan is the cause ; 
but that resolves-not the doubt, because he is not 
the principal cause. He does not force men to 
sin, but tempts them to it, and leaves it to their 
own will, whether they will do it or not. Itlies 
therefore between God himself and the sinner ; 
one of them must be the principal cause of this 
misery ; for there is no other to cast it upon: 
and God disclaims it: he will not take it upon 
him. And the wicked ‘disclaim it usually, and 
they will not take it upon them. : And this is the 
controversy which is here carried on in my text. 

The Lord complains of the people: and the 
people think it is the fault of God. ‘They say, 
verse 10, If our transgressions and our sins be 
upon Us, ‘and we pine away in them, how shall 
we then le? As if they should say, if we must 
die, how can we help it ? As if it were not their 
fault, but God’s. But God here in my text clears 
himself of it, and tells them how they may help 
it if they will, and. persuades them to use the 
means: and if they will not be persuaded, he 
lets them know that it is their own fault : and if 
this will not satisfy them, he will not therefore 
forbear to punish them. It is he that will be the 
Judge ; and he will judge them according to 
their ways; they are no judges of him or of 
themselves, as wanting authority and wisdom, 
and impartiality : nor is the cavilling with God, 
that shall serve their turn, or save them from the 
execution of iustice. 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 177 


The words of this verse «contain, 1. God’s 
clearing of himself from the blame of their de- 
struction. This he does not by disowning his 
law, that the wicked shall die, nor by disowning 
his execution according to that law, or giving 
them any hope that the law shall not be exe- 
cuted ; but by professing that it is not their death 
that he takes pleasure in, but their returning 
rather that they may live: and this he confirms 
to them by his oath. 2. An express exhortation 
to the wicked to return ; wherein God does not 
only command, but persuade, and condescend 
also to reason the case with them. Why will 
they die? The direct end of this exhortation is, 
that. they may turn and live. The secondary 
ends, upon supposition that this is not attained, 
are these two. First, to convince that it is not 
the fault of God if they be miserable. Secondly, 
to convince them from their manifest wilfulness 
in rejecting all his commands and persuasions 
that it is thezr own fault, and they die, even be- 
cause they will die. 

The substance of the text lies in these obser- 
vations following :— 

Doct. 1. It is the auchargeable law of God, 
that wicked men must turn or die. 

Doct. 2. It is the promise of God, that the 
wicked shall live if they will turn. 

Doct. 3. God takes pleasure in men’s conver- 
sion and salvation, but none in their death or 
damnation ; he had rather they would return and 
live, than go on and die. 

Doct. 4. This is the most certain truth, which 

12 


178 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


because God would not have men to question, 
he has confirmed to them solemnly by his oath. 

Doct. 5. The Lord redoubles his commands 
and persuasions to the wicked to turn, ° 

Doct. 6. The Lord condescends to reason the 
case with them, and asks the wicked, why they 
will die. 

Doct..7. If after all this the wicked will not 
turn, it is not the fault of God that they perish, 
but of themselves ; their own wilfulness is the 
cause of their damnation: they therefore die, 
because they will die. | 

Having laid the text open. before your eyes 

in these plain propositions, I shall next speak 
' somewhat of each of them in order, thougn very 
briefly. 





DOCTRINE I. 


Itis the unchangeable law.of God, that wicked 
men must turn or die. 


Ir you will believe God, believe this : there 
is but one of these two ways for every wicked 
man, either conversion or damnation. I know 
the wicked. will hardly be persuaded either of 
the truth or equity of this... No wonder if the 
guilty quarrel with the law... Few men are apt 
to believe that which they would.not have to be 
true; and fewer would have that to be true 
which they apprehend to be against them.— 
But it iy not quarrelling with the law or.with 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 179 


the judge that will save the malefactor. Be- 
lieving and regarding ‘the law might have pre- 
vented his death ; but denying and accusing it 
will but ‘hasten it. -If it were not so, a hundred 
would bring their reasons against the law, for 
one that would bring his reason to thelaw: and 
men would*rather éhidose to give their reasons 
why they should not be punished, than to hear 
the. commands and reasons of their governors 
which require them to obey.’ The. law was 
not made for you to judge, but that you might 
be ruled and judged by it. 

But if there be any so blind as to question 
either the truth, or the justice of the law of 
God, I shall briefly give you evidence of both. 

And first, if you doubt whether ‘this be. the 
word of God or not, beside a hundred: other 
texts, you may be satisfied with these few, Matt. 
xviii, 3, Verily, I say unto you, except ye be con- 
verted, and become as little children, ye cannot 
enter into the kingdom of heaven. John iii, 3, 
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be 
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 
2 Cor. v, 17, If any man be in Christ, he 1s a new 
creature: old things are passed abay ; ; behold, 
all things are become new. ‘Heb. xul, 14, With. 
out holiness no man shall see God. Font. vill, 8, 
3, , They that are in the flesh cannot please God. 

fow if any man have. not the Spirit of Christ, 
he is none of his. Psalm ix, 17, The wicked 
shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that 
forget God. Psalm xt, 5, The Lord loveth the 
righteous, but the wicked his soul hateth. : 


180 A CALL TO THE’ UNCONVERTED. 


I need not add any more of that multitude 
which speaks the like: if thou. be a man that 
believest the word. of God, here is’ already 
enough to satisfy ‘thee, the wicked must be 
converted or condemned. You must. either 
confess that this ‘is true, or ‘say plainly you 
will not believe the word of God. And if once 
you be come to that: pass, itis not likely you 
will be long out of hell. But-ifyou tell God 
plainly you will not believe him, blame him not 
if he warn you no more: for to what» purpose 
should he warn you, if you will not believe 
him? Should he send an angel‘from heaven to 
you, it seems you would not believe. For an 
angel can speak but.the word of God : and if an 
angel should bring you any other Gospel, you 
are not to receive it, but to. hold him accursed. 
And surely there is no angel to. be believed 
before the Son of God; who came from the 
Father to bring up this doctrine... And if you 
stand on these terms. with God,I shall leave 
you till he deal with you in a more convincing 
way. God hasa voice that will make you hear. 
Though he entreat you to hear_the voice of his 
Gospel, he will make you hear the voice of his 
condemning sentence. - We cannot make you 
believe against your wills: but God will’ Seahe ; 
you feel against your wills. 

But why will you not believe this word ‘of aa 
God, which tells us that the wicked must be 
converted, or condemned? It is because you 
judge it unlikely that God should beso unmer- 
ciful ; you think it cruelty to damn men everlast- 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 181 


ingly for so small a thing as a‘sinful life. And 
this leads us to the second thine, which is, to 
justify the equity of God in his laws and judg- 
ments. And, first, I think you will not deny 
that it is most suitable to an immortal soul, to 
be ruled by laws which promise an immortal 
reward, and threaten an endless punishment. 
Otherwise the law would not be suited to the 
nature of the subject; who will not be fully ruled 
by.any lower means than the hopes or fears of 
everlasting things : as it is in the case of tem- 
poral punishment, if a-law were now made that 
the most heinous crimes should be punished 
with a hundred years’ captivity, this might be 
of some efficacy, it being equal -to our lives. — 
But if there had been no other penaities before 
the flood, when men lived eight or nine hundred 
years, rt would not have been sufficient, because 
men would kno w that they might have so many 
hundred years’ impunity afterward. So it is in 
our present case. 

~2. When you find in the word of God that so 
# is and so tt will be, do you think yourselves 
fit to contradict this word? Will you call your 
Maker. to the bar, and examine his. word? 
will you sit upon him, and judge him by the 
law of your conceits? Are you wiser and bet- 
ter than he? Must the God of heaven come to 
school to you to learn wisdom? Must Infinite 
Wisdom learn: of folly ? Must the Almighty 
stand at the bar ofa worm? O horrid arrogancy 
of senseless dust!’ Shall-every mole, or clod, 
or dunghill, accuse the sun of darkness, and 


182 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


undertake to illuminate’ the world? Where 
were you when the Almighty: made the laws 
that he did not call you to his council; surely 
he made them before you were born, without 
desiring your advice; and you came into the 
world too late to reverse them; if you could 
have done so great a work, you should -have 
stepped out of nothing, and have contradicted 
Christ when he was on earth,,or Moses before 
him, er have saved Adam and his sinful pro- 
geny from the threatened death, that so there 
might have been no need of Christ. 

3. If sin besuch an evil that it requires the 
death of Christ for its expiation, no wonder if 
it deserve. our everlasting misery. 

4. And methinks you should. perceive, that 
it is not possible for the. bést of men,. much 
less for the wicked, to be competent. judges of 
the desert of sins ‘Sie we are all both blind 
and partial.. You can never know -fully the 
desert of sin till you fully know the evilof sin : 
and you can never fully-know the evil of sin, 
till you fully know the excellency. of the soul 
which it deforms: no, nor till you know the 
infinite excellency, almightiness, and holiness, 
of that God against whom it is committed.— 
When you fully know these, you shall fully 
know the desert of sin. You know that the 
offender is too partial to judge the law, or the 
proceeding of his judge. 

5. Can you think that unholy all are fit for 
heaven? Alas, they cannot love God here, nor 
do him any service which he canaccept.. They 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 188 


are contrary to God, they loathe that which he 
most-loves; and love that. which he abhors ; 
they are incapable of that imperfect commu- 
nion with him, which his saints here partake of. 
How then can they live in that most per- 
fect love of him,and full delight and communion 
with him, which is the blessedness of heaven! 


USE. 


[ BESEECH you now, all that love your souls, 
that instead of quarrelling with God and his word, 
you will presently stoop to it, and use it for your 
good. You must, ere long, be - converted or 
condemned ; there is no other way, but turn or 
die. When God who cannot lie has told you 
this, when you hear it from the Maker and Judge 
of the world ; it is time for him that has ears to 
hear. By this time you may see what you have 
to trust to. You are but dead and damned men, 
except you will be converted. Should I tell you 
otherwise, I should deceive with a lie. Should 
I hide this from you, I should undo you, and be 
guilty of your blood. You see then, though 
this be a rough, unwelcome doctrine, it is such 
as we must preach and you must hear. It is 
easier to hear of hell than to feel it. Hell would 
not be so full, if people were but willing to know 
their Glad and to hear and think of it. The 
reason why so few escape it, is because they 
strive notto enter in at the straight gate of con- 
version, and to gothe narrow way of holiness, 
while they have time: and they strive not, be- 
cause they are not awakened to a lively feeling 


184 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


of the danger that they are.in ; and they are not 
awakened, because they. are loath to hear, or 
think of it; and that is partly through foolish 
tenderness .and carnal self-love; and partly 
because they do not well believe the word that 
threatens it. If you will not thoroughly believe 
this truth, methinks the weight of it should force 
you to remember it ; and it should follow you, 
and. give no rest till you were converted. If 
you had but once heard this word, by the voice 
of an angel, Thou must be converted or con- 
demned ; turn or die: would it not fasten, on 
your mind, and haunt you night and day? so 
that in your sinning you would remember it; as 
if the voice were still in your ears, Turnor die ! 
O happy were your souls if it might thus work 
upon you, and never be forgotten, or let you 
alone till it have driven home your hearts to 
God. But if. you will cast it out by forgetful- 
ness, or unbelief, how can it work to. your 
conversion and salvation? But take this with 
you to your sorrow, though you may put. it out 
of your minds, you cannot put it out of the Bi- 
ble : but there it will stand as a sealed truth, 
which you shall experimentally know for ever, 
that there is no other way but turn or die. 

O what is the reason then that the hearts of 
sinners are not. pierced with such a weighty 
truth. Believe it, this drowsy, this careless 
temper, will not last long. Conversion and con- 
demnation are both of them awakening things: 
and one of them will make you feel ere long. 
I can foretell it.as-truly as if I saw-it with my 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 185 


eyes, that either grace or hell will shortly. bring 
these matters to the quick, and make you say, 
“ What have I-done? What a foolish, wicked 
course have I taken?” . The scornful and the 
stupid state of sinners will last but a little while. 
As soon as they either turn or die, the presump- 
tuous dream will be at an end; and then their 
wits and feelings will return. 

But there are two.things which-are like to 
harden the unconverted, except they can -be 
taken out of the way; and that is, the misun- 
derstanding of those two words, the WICKED 
and TURN. Some think it is true, the wicked 
must turn or die: but what.is that to me? I 
am not wicked, though I am ‘a sinner, ‘as vall 
men are. Others think, It is true that we must 
turn from our evil ways ; but I am turned long 
ago.. And thus, while wicked men think they 
are not wicked, but are already converted, we 
lose all our labour in persuading them to turn. 
I shall, therefore, before I-go any farther, tell 
you who are meant by .the wicked, and who 
they are that must turn or die-;. and also, what 
is meant by turning ;-and who they are that 
are truly converted. 

You may observe, no man is a wicked man 
that is converted; and no man is a converted 
man that is wicked; so that tobe a wicked man 
and an unconverted man, isallone. And there- 
fore, in opening one we shall open both. 

Before I can tell you what either wickedness 
or conversion is, I must go to the bottom and 
fetch up the matter from the beginning. 


186 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


It pleased the great Creator of the world to 
make three sorts of living creatures. Angels 
he made pure spirits without flesh, and there- 
fore he made them only for heaven, and not 
to dwell on earth. Brutes were made flesh ; and 
therefore they were made: only for earth, and 
not for heaven. Man is ofa middle nature, be- 
tween both, as partaking of both flesh and spirit : 
and therefore he was made both for heaven and 
earth. . But as his flesh was made to be but a 
servant to his spirit, so is he made for earth, but 
as his way to heaven ; and not that earth shall 
be his home, or happiness. ‘The blessed state 
which man was’ made for, was. to behold the 
glorious majesty of the Lord, and to praise him 
among the holy angels, and to love him, and be 
filled with his love for ever. And_as this was 
the end which man was made for, so God gave 
him means fitted to attain it. These means 
were principally two. First; the right inclination, 
and disposition of the mind of man. Secondly, 
the right ordering of his life and practice. For 
the first, God suited the disposition of man to 
his end ; giving him such knowledge of God as 
was fit for him in his present state, and a heart 
inclined to God in holy love. But yet he did 
not confirm him in this condition; but, having 
made him a free agent, he left him i in the hands 
of his own free will. For the second, God did 
that which belonged to him; that is, he gave 
man a perfect law, requiring him to continue in 
the love of God, and perfectly to obey him. By 
the wilful breach of: this law, man did not only 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 187 


forfeit his hopes of everlasting life, but also 
turned his heart from God, and fixed it on these 
lower things; and hereby blotted out the spirit- 
ual image of God from his soul. So that man 
did both fall short of the glory of God, which 
was his end, and put himself out of the way by 
which he should have attained it; and this both 
as to the frame of his heart, and of his life. The 
holy inclination of hissoul to God, he lost ; and 
instead of it he contracted an inclination to the 
pleasing of his flesh by earthly things: growing 
strange to God, and acquainted with the crea- 
ture; and the course of his life was suited to 
the inclination of his heart: he lived to his own 
will and not to God: he sought the creature 
for the pleasing of his flesh, instead of seeking 
to please the Lord. | With this nature, or cor- 
rupt inclination, we are all now born into the 
world; for who can bring a clean thing out of 
an unclean? Job xiv, 4. Asa lion has a fierce 
and cruel nature, before he does devour; and 
as an adder has a venomous nature béfore she 
stings; so in our very infancy we have those 
sinful natures, or inclinations, before we think, 
or speak, or do amiss. And hence springs all 
the sin of our lives. . And not only so, but when 
God has, of his mercy, provided as a remedy, 
even the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Saviour 
of our souls, and. bring us back to God, we 
naturally love our present state, and are loath to 
be brought out of it, and therefore are set against 
the means of our recovery ; and though cus. 
tom has taught us to thank Chr ist for his good 


188 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


will, yet we refuse his remedies, and desire 
to be excused when. we are commanded to 
take the medicines which he offers, and are 
called to. forsake all, and follow him to Ged 
and glory. . 

. In these few words you hack a true descrip- 
fion of our natural state ; and consequently of a 
wicked man. For every man that is in this state 
of corrupted nature is a wicked man, and ina 
state of death. 

By this you may understand what it is to be 
converted ; to which end you must farther know, 
that the mercy of God, not willing that man 
should perish in his sin, provided a remedy by 
causing his Son to take our nature upon him, 
and being.in one person, God and man, to be- 
come a Mediator between God and man; and 
by dying for our sins on the cross, to ransom 
us from the curse ‘of God, and the power of the 
devil: and having thus redeemed us, the Father 
has thus delivered us into his hands as ‘his own. 
Hereupon.the Father and the Mediator make a 
new law and covenant for man: not like the first, 
which gave life to none. but the perfectly obe- 
dient, and condemned .man for every sin: but 
Christ has made a law of grace, or a promise 
of pardon and everlasting life, to all that by true 
repentance and by faith in Christ are converted 
unto God. Like an act of oblivion, which is 
made by a prince to a company of rebels, on 
condition they- will lay down their arms and 
come in, and be eye subjects for the: time to 
come. ‘ 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 189 


But, because the Lord knows that the heart 
of man is grown so wicked that men will not 
accept.of the remedy if they be’ left to them- 
selves, therefore the Holy Ghost has undertaken 
it as his office to inspire the apostles, and seal 
the Scripture by miracles; and to ilgmina te 
and convert the souls of men. 

So that you see, as there are thives persons 
in the Trinity, the: Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost; so’ each of these persons have 
their several works which are eminently as- 
cribed to them. 

The Father’s works were, to ‘create us, . to 
rule us, as his-rational creatures, by the law of 
nature; and judge usthereby : and in mercy to 
provide us a Redeemer when we were lost ; and 
to send his Son, and accept his ransom. 

The works: of the Son for us were these: 
to ransom and redeem us by his sufferings and 
righteousness; to give out the promise or law 
of grace; and rule and judge the world as their 
Redeemer, on terms of grace, and ‘to make 
intercession for us, that the benefits of his 
death may be communicated, and to. send the 
Holy Ghost, which the F ather also does by the 
Son. 

The works of the Holy Ghost for us are 
these; to indite the Holy Scriptures by inspir- 
ing and guiding the prophets and apostles ; and 
sealing the word by his miraculous gifts and 
works: and the illuminating, and ‘exciting the 
ordinary ministers of the Gospel ; and so ena- 
bling ‘them and helping them. to publish that 


190 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED:. 


word.: and by the same word, illuminating and 
converting the souls of men. ‘So that as you 
could not have been reasonable creatures, if 
the Father had not created.you, nor have had 
any access to God, if the Son had not redeemed 
you; soneither can you be saved, except the 
~ Holy Ghost.do sanctify you. 

So you.may see the several causes of this 
work., The Father sends’ the Son; the Son 
redeems us and makes the promise of grace : 
the Holy Ghost indites and seals this Gospel : 
the apostles are the secretaries of the Spirit to 
write it : the preachers of the Gospel proclaim 
it, and persuade men to embrace it; and the 
Holy Ghost makes. their preaching effectual, by 
opening the hearts of men to entertain it. And 
all this to repair the image of God upon. the soul, 
to whom it is revolted; and to take it off the 
creature and set it againupon God; and so to | 
turn’ the -current of the life into a heavenly 
course, which before was earthly ; and all this 
by the entertainment of Christ, by faith, who is 
the physician of the soul. 

By this you may see what it is to be wicked, 
and what it is to be converted. - Which I think 
will be yet plainer, if I describe them as con- 
sisting of their several parts: and for the first, 
a wicked man may be known by these three 
things:— © 

First, He is one who diced his chief i oietba 
on earth, and loves the creatures more than 
God; and his fleshly prosperity above the hea- 
venly felicity: he savours the things of the 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 191 


flesh, but Bais discerns, nor savours ‘the things 
of the Spirit : though he will say that. heaven is 
better than earth, yet does he not reallyso esteem 
it. If he might be sure of earth, he would let go 
heaven; andhad rather stay here than be re- 
moved thither. . A life of perfect holiness in the 
sight of God, and in his love, and praises for 
ever in heaven, do. not find.such liking with his 
heart asa life of health, and wealth, and honour 
upon earth., And though he falsely profess that 
he loves God above all; yet indeed he never 
felt the power of Divine love, but his: mind is 
more set on the world or fleshly pleasures, than 
on God. In a word, whoever loves earth above 
heaven, and fieshly ‘prosperity more than God, 
is a wicked, unconverted man. 

On the other side, aconverted man is enlightened 
to discern the loveliness of God: and so believes 
the glory that.is to be had with God, that his 
heart. is set more upon it than on any thing in 
this world. He had rather see the face of God, 
and live in his everlasting love, than have all the 
wealth or pleasures of the world. He sees that 
all things else arc vanity ;, that nothing but God 
can fill the soul: and therefore, let the world go 
which way it will, he lays up his treasures and 
hopes in heaven ; and for that he is resolved to 
let go all... As the fire mounts upward, and the 
needle that is touched with the loadstone turns 
to the north : so the converted soul is inclined 
to God. Nothing else can satisfy him: nor 
‘can he find any content and rest. but in his love. 
In a word, all that. are converted, esteem and 


192 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


love God better than all the world, and the hea- 
venly felicity is dearer to them than their fleshly 
prosperity. 

Secondly, A wicked man is one that makes 
it the principal business of his life to prosper 
in the- world, and attain his fleshly ends. And 
though he may read and hear, and do much in 
the outward duties of religion, and forbear dis- 
graceful sins; yet this‘is but by the by, and he 
never makes it the business of his life to please 
God, and attain everlasting glory..° He puts off 
God, with the leavings:of the world, and gives 
him ‘no more service than the flesh can spare. 

On the contrary,a converted man. is one that 
makes it the principal business of his life to 
please God, and to be saved: and takes all the 
blessings ‘of this life, but.as accommodations in 
his journey toward another life, and» uses the 
creature in subordination to God’; he loves a 
holy life, and longs to be more holy ; he has no 
motions of sin, but what he hates, and longs, 
and prays, and strives.to be rid of. ‘The bent 
of his life is for God: therefore he dare not 
wilfully live in any known sin, There is nothing 
in this world so dear unto him, but he can give 
it up to God, and forsake it for the hopes of glory. 

Thirdly, The soul of the wicked man did never 
truly discern and relish the mystery of redemp- 
tion, or thankfully entertain an offered Saviour, 
nor is he taken up with the rule of the Redeemer, 
nor willing to: be ruled by him, that he may 
be saved from the guilt and power of his sins, 
and be recovered unto God! but his heart is- 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 193 


insensible of this unspeakable benefit, and is 
quite against the healing means, by which he 
should be recovered. He never resigns up his 
soul to Christ, and to the motions.and conduct 
of his word and Spirit. On the contrary, the 
converted soul, having felt. himself undone by 
sin ; and perceiving that he has lost his peace 
with God and the hopes of heaven, and is in 
danger of everlasting misery, does thankfully 
entertain the tidings of redemption ; and believ- 
ing in the Lord Jesus as his only. Saviour, 
resigns up himself to him for wisdom, righteous- 
ness, sanctification, andredemption. He takes 
Christ as the life of his soul, and lives by him, 
and uses him as a salve for every sore, admir- 
ing the wisdom and love of God, in this wonder- 
ful work of man’s redemption. In a_ word, 
Christ does even dwell in his heart by faith, and 
the life which he now lives is by faith of the Son 
of God, who has loved him, and given himself 
for him. Yea, it is not so much he that-lives, 
as Christ in him. 

You see now who-are the wicked and who 
are the converted. Ignorant people think that 
if a man be no swearer, or curser, or railer, or 
drunkard,or fornicator, or extortioner, nor wrong 
any body in his dealings, and if he go to church 
and say his prayers, he cannot be a wicked man. 
Or if aman who has been guilty of drunkenness, 
swearing, or the like vices, do but forbear them, 
they think that thisisa convertedman. Others 
think, if a man who has been an enemy and 
scorner of religion, do but approve it, and join 

13 


€ 


194 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


himself with good men, and be hated for it by 
the wicked, this must needs be a converted man. 
And some are so foolish as to think they are 
converted by taking up some new opinion, or by 
falling into some party, as Anabaptists, Quakers, 
Papists, or such like. And some think if they 
have but been affrighted by the fears of hell, and 
thereupon have purposed and promised amend- 
ment, and taken up a life of civil behaviour and 
outward religion, this must needs be true conver- 
sion. And these are the poor deluded souls that 
are like to lose the benefit of all our persuasions ; 
and when they hear that the wicked must turn 
or die, they think that this is not spoken to them ; 
for they are not wicked, but are turned already. 
And therefore it is that Christ told some of the 
rulers of the Jews, who were more moral and 
civil than the common people, that publicans and 
harlots shall go into the kingdom of God be- 
fore them, Matt. xxi, 31. Not that a harlot or 
gross sinner can be saved without conversion ; 
but because it was easier to make these gross 
sinners perceive their sin, and the necessity of 
a change. 

O sirs, conversion is another kind of work 
than most areaware of: it isnot a small matter 
to showman the amiable excellencies of God, 
till he be taken up with such love to him as ean- 
not easily be quenched : to break the heart for 
sin, and make him fly for refuge to Christ, and 
thankfully embrace him as the life of his soul ; 
to have the very bent of the heart and life chang- 
ed; so that he renounces that’which he took for 


ad 


A CALL TO* THE UNCONVERTED. 195 


his felicity, and places his felicity where he never 
did before ; and lives not to the same end, and 
drives not on the same design in the world as 
formerly he did. He that is in Christ is a new 
creature ; old things are passed away; behold 
all things are become new, 2 Cor. v,17. He 
has a new understanding, a new will and resolu- 
tion, new sorrows, and desires, and love, and 
delight ; new thoughts, new speeches, new com- 
pany, (if possible,) and a new conversation. Sin, 
which before was a jesting matter with him, is 
now so odious, that he flies from it as from death. 
The world, which was so lovely in his eyes, does 
not appear but as vanity and vexation: God, 
who was before neglected, is now the only hap- 
piness of his soul: before, he was forgotten ; 
but now he is set next the-heart, and.all things 
must give place to him: and the heart is taken 
up in the attendance and observance of him; and 
is grieved when he hides his face, and never 
thinks itself well without him. Christ himself, 
who was wont to be’slightly thought of, is now 
his only hope and refuge, and he lives upon him 
as on his daily bread; he cannot pray without 
him, nor rejoice without him, nor think, nor 
speak, nor live without him. Heaven itself, 
which before was looked upon but as a tolerable 
reserve, which he hoped might serve better than: 
hell, when he could not stay any longer in the 
world, is now taken for his home, the place of 
his only hope and rest, where he shall see, and 
love, and praise that God, who has his heart 
already. The Bible, which was before to him 


196 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


but as a common book, is now as the law of God, 
as a letter written to him from heaven, and sub- 
scribed with the name of the Eternal Majesty ; 
it is the rule of his thoughts, and words, and 
deeds ; the commands are binding, and the pro- 
mises of it speak life to hissoul. In short, he has 
a new end in his thoughts, anda new way in his 
endeavours, and therefore his heart and life are 
new. So that this is not a change in one or 
two, or twenty points; but in the whole soul 
and conversation. 

Do you believe this, sirs, or do. you not? 
Surely you dare not say you do not. These 
are not controversies, where one’ pious man is 
of one mind, and another of another ; all Chris- 
tians are agreed in this, and if you will not be- 
lieve the God of truth, and that in a case where 
every sect and party believe him, you are utterly 
inexcusable. 

But if you do believe this, how comes it to 
pass that you live so quietly in an, unconverted 
state 1 Do you know that you are converted ? 
Can you find this wonderful change upon your 
souls? Have you been thus born again, and 
made anew ? If you cannot tell the day or week 
of your change, do you find that the work is 
done? And that you have such hearts as are 
before described.? Alas, the most follow their 
worldly business, and little trouble their minds 
with such thoughts. And if they be but.re- 
strained from scandalous sins, and can say, I am 
no whoremonger, or thief, or curser, or swearer, 
or tippler, or eatortioner ; I go to church and say 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 197 


my prayers, they think this is true conversion, 
and they shall be savedas well as any. Alas! 
this is a foolish cheating of yourselves. ‘This is 
too gross a neglect of your immortal souls. Can 
you make so light of heaven and hell? Your 
corpses must shortly lie in the dust, and angels 
or devils will-presently seize upon your souls, 
and every man and woman of you all will 
shortly be among other company, and in another 
case than now youare ; you will dwell in those 
houses but a little longer 3 you will work in your 
shops and fields but a little longer ;° you will sit 
in these seats and dwell on this earth but a 
little longer ; you will see with those eyes, and 
hear with those ears, and speak with those 
tongues, but a little longer’; and can you forget 
this? O what a place will you be shortly in, of 
joy or torment! O what a sight will you shortly 
see in heaven or hell! O what thoughts will 
shortly fill your hearts with unspeakable delight 
or horror! - What work will you:be employed 
in! ‘To praise the Lord with saints and angels, 
or to cry out in fire unquenchable with devils! 
And should all this be forgotten? And all this 
will be endless, and sealed up by an unchange- 
able decree. Eternity! eternity! will be the 
measure of your joys or sorrows, and can this 
be forgotten ? And all this is true, most certainly 
true: when you have gone up and down a little 
longer, and slept and awaked a few times more, 
you will be dead and gone, and find all true — 
which now I tell you ; and can you now forget 

it? You shall then remember that you read this 


198 A CALL TO TIE UNCONVERTED. 


sermon, and that on this day, and in this place, 
you were remembered of these things; and yet 
shall they be now so much forgotten ? 

Beloved, if the Lord had not awakened me 
to believe and lay to heart these things myself, 
I should have perished for ever: but if he has 
made me sensible of them, it will constrain me 
to compassionate you. If your eyes were so 
far opened as to see hell, and you saw your 
neighbours that were unconverted dragged thi- 
ther with hideous cries, though they were such 
as you accounted honest people on earth ; such 
a sight would make you warn all about you, lest 
they should go to that place of torment. Why, 
faith is a kind of sight’; it isthe eye of the soul, 
the evidence of things not seen; if I believe 
God, it is next to seeing: and therefore I be- 
seech you excuse me if I be as earnest with 
you about these matters as if I had seen them. 
If I were to die to-morrow, and it were in my 
power to come again from another world and 
tell you what [I had seen, would you not be 
willing to hear me? And would you not believe 
and regard what I should tell you? If I might 
preach one sermon to you after I-am dead, and 
have seen what is done in the world to come, 
would you not plainly have me speak the truth, 
and would you not crowd to hear me? And 
would you not lay it to heart? But this must 
not be; God has his appointed way of teaching 
you; and he will not humour unbelievers so far 
as to send men from the dead to them, and to 
alter his established way: if any: man quarrel 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 199 


with the sun, God will not humour-him so far as 
to set him up.aclearer light. Friends, I beseech 
you regard me now, as you would do if I should 
come from the dead to you; for I can give as 
full assurance of the truth of what I say to you, 
as if I had been there and seen it with my eyes; 
for it is possible for one from the dead to de- 
ceive you. Believe this, or believe nothing.— 
Believe, and obey this, or you are undone: now 
as ever you believe the word of God, and as 
ever you care for the salvation of your souls, let 
me beg of you this reasonable request ; that you 
would, without any more delay, remember what 
you heard, and enter into -an earnest search of 
your hearts, and say unto yourselves—* Is it so 
indeed?. Must I turn or die? . Must I be con- 
verted or condemned ? It is time for me then to 
look about me before it be too late.. O why did 
I not look after this till now ? Why did I ventu- 
rously put off'so great a business? Was I awake? 
O blessed God, what a mercy is it that thou 
didst not cut off my life in all this while! Well, 
God forbid that I should neglect this work any 
longer. What state is my soul in? Am I con- 
verted, or am I not? Was ever such a work 
done upon my soul? Have-I been illuminated 
by the word and Spirit of the Lord, to see the 
odiousness of sin, the need ofa Saviour, the 
love of Christ, and the excellencies of God in 
glory? Is my heart broken or humbled within 
me for my former life? Have I thankfully enter- 
tained my Saviour and Lord, who offered himself 
with pardon and life to my soul ? Do I hate my 


200 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


former sinful life, and the remnant of every sin 
that is in me? Dol fly from them as my deadly 
enemies?. Do I give up myself to-a life of holi- 
ness ?. Do I love it, and delight in it? Can I 
truly say that I am dead to the world ; and that 
I live for God, and the glory which. he has pro- 
mised? Has heaven more of my estimation than 
earth? And is God the dearest.and highest in 
my soul? Once, [am sure, [ lived principally to 
the world and flesh, and God had nothing but 
some heartless services which the -world could 
spare, and which were the leavings of the flesh. 
Is my heart now turned another way? Have I 
a new design, and a new end, and a new train of 
holy affections ? Haye I set my hopes and heart 
on heaven? And is.it the design of my heart 
and life to get well to heaven, and see the glo- 
rious face of God, and live in his everlasting 
love and praise? Do I conquer ‘all gross sins, 
and am I weary and willing to. be rid of mine 
infirmities? This is the state of a converted 
soul. And thus must it be with me, or I must 
perish. Isit thus with me indeed, or is it not? 
It is time to get this doubt resolved before the 
dreadful Judge resolve it. I am not sucha 
stranger to my own heart and life but I may 
perceive whether I am thus converted or not: 
if I be not, it will do me no- good to flatter my 
soul with false hopes. I am ‘resolved no more 
to deceive myself, but to endeavour to know 
truly whether [am converted; that if I be, I 
may rejoice in it and glorify my gracious Lord, 

and comfortably go. on till [ reach the crown : 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 201 


but if I be not, I may beg and seek after the 
grace that will convert me, and turn without 
any more delay: for if I find in time that.I am 
out of the way, by the help of Christ I may turn 
and be recovered; but if I stay till either my 
heart be forsaken of God in blindness and hard- 
ness, or till I be caught away by death; it is 
then too late. There is no place for repentance 
and conversion then; I know it must be now 
or never.” 

Sirs, this is my request to you, that you will 
but take your hearts to task and thus examine 
them, till you see, if it may be, whether you are 
converted or not. It undoes many thousands, 
that they think they are in the way to salvation 
when they are not ; and that they are converted, 
when it-is no such thing. And then, when we 
call to them daily to turn, they think this con. 
cerns not them; for they are turned already, 
and hope that they shall do well enough in the 
way that they are in, when alas! all this while 
they live to the world and flesh, and are stran- 
gers to God and eternal life. And all this 
because we cannot persuade them to-spend a 
few hours in examining of their states. Are 
there not many self-deceiving wretches that 
hear me this day, who never bestowed one hour 
in all their lives to examine their souls, and try 
whether they ever were truly converted or not ? 
O merciful God, who will care for such wretches 
that care no more for themselves? If all that 
are ina state of damnation did but know it, 
they durst not continue in it. The greatest 


202 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


hope that the devil has of bringing you to dam- 
nation without a rescue, is, by keeping you 
blindfold, and making-you believe that you may 
do well enough i in the way that you arein. If 
you knew that you were lost for ever, if you 
should die as you are; durst you sleep another 
night in the state you are in? Durst you live 
another day in it? Could you laugh or be merry 
in such a state? What, and not know but you 
may be snatched away to hell in an hour? Sure 
it would constrain you to forsake your former 
company and courses, and to betake yourselves 
to the way of holiness.. Sure it would drive 
you to cry to God for a new heart, and to seek 
help of those who are fit to counsel you. There 
is none of you, sure, that -cares not for being 
damned. Well then, [beseech you, presently 
make inquiry into your hearts, and give them 
no rest till you find out your condition; that if 
it be good, you may rejoice in it and go on; 
and if if be bad, you may presently look about 
you for recovery, as men who believe they must 
turn or die. - What.say you? Will you resolve 
and promise to be at so much labour for your 
own souls ? Will you fall upon this self-exami- 
nation? Is my request unreasonable !—Your 
consciences know it is not ; . resolve on it then 
before you stir, knowing how much it concerns: 
your souls. I beseech you, for the sake of that 
God who does command you, at whose bar ‘you 
will shortly all appear, that you will not deny 
this reasonable request. For the sake of- those 
souls that must turn or die, I beseech you deny 


A CALL TO THE- UNCONVERTED. 203 


me not: make it your business to understand 
your own conditions, and build upon sure ground, 
and know for a certainty whether you are con- 
verted or no; and venture not your own souls 
on negligent security. | 

But perhaps you will say, What if we should 
find ourselves yet unconverted, what will we do 
then? This question leads me to my second 
doctrine. 


DOCTRINE ILI. 


Itis the promise of God that the wicked shall 
live, of they will turn to him. 


Tue Lord here professes that. this is what 
he takes pleasure in, that the wicked. turn and 
live. Turn and live, is as certain a truth, as 
turn or die. Sinners, there are none ‘of you 
shall have cause to go home and say I preach 
despair to you. Are we used to shut up the 
door of mercy against you? O that you would 
not shut it up against yourselves! Are we used 
to tell you- that God will have no mercy on 
you though you turn? When did you hear a 
preacher say such a word? You that bark at 
the preachers of the Gospel for desiring to keep 
you out of hell, and say that they preach de- 
spair ; tell me when did you ever hear any sober 
man say that there is no hope for you, though 
you repent and be converted? No, it is quite 
the contrary, which we daily proclaim from 
the Lord ; that whoever is born again shall be 
saved: so far are we from persuading you to 


204 A CALL TO THE UNCUNVERTED. 


despair of this, that we persuade -you not to 
make any doubt of it. It is life and not death, 
which is the first part of our message to you ; 
our commission is to offer salvation, a speedy, 
glorious, everlasting salvation, to every one of 
you; to the poorest beggar as well as to the 
greatest lord; to the worst of you, even drunk- 
ards, swearers, thieves, yea, to the despisers and 
reproachers of the holy way of salvation; we 
are commanded by the Lord our Master, to offer 
you a pardon for all that is past, if you will now 


at last return and live: we are commanded to ~ 


beseech and entreat you to accept the offer, 
and to tell you what preparation is made by 
Christ, what mercy stays for you ; what patience 
waiteth on you; what thoughts of kindness God 
has toward you ; and how happy, how certain- 
ly and unspeakably happy you may be if you 
will. We have indeed alsoa message of wrath 
and death ; yea, of a twofold wrath ‘and death : 
but neither of them is‘our principal, message : 
we must tell you of the wrath that is on you 
already, and the death that you are born under : 
but this is only to show you the need of mercy. 
For who will seek out for physic that knows 
not he is sick ? Our telling you of your misery 
is not that which makes you miserable, but that 
which drives you to seek for mercy. It is you 
that have.brought this death upon yourselves. 
We tell you also of another death, and much 
greater torment, which will fall on those who will 
not be converted. 

But as this is'true; so it is but the last, sti} 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 205 


saddest part of our message. We are first to 
offer you mercy if you will turn; and it is only 
those who. will not turn nor hear the voice of 
mercy, to whom we must foretell damnation.— 
If you will cast away your transgressions, and 
come at the call of Christ, and be converted, 
we have not a word of damning wrath, or death, 
to speak against you. Ido here, in the name 
of the Lord of life, proclaim to. you all, to the 
worst of you, to the greatest, to the oldest sin- 
ner, that you may have mercy and salvation, if 
you will but turn. There is mercy in God, 

there is sufficiency in the satisfaction of Christ, 
the promise is free, and full, and universal ; you 
may have life if you will but turn. But then, 
as you love your souls, remember what turning 
it is which the Scripture speaks of. It is not 
to amend the old house, but to pull down all 
and build anew, on Christ the rock and sure 
foundation. 

Yourselves are pathothedin now, that it is salva- 
tion and not damnation which is the great doc- 
trine I preach to you ; and the first part of my 
message to you. Accept-of this, and we shall 
go no farther; for we would not trouble you 
with the name of damnation without necessity. 

But if you will not be saved, there is no re- 
medy, but damnation must take place. For 
there is no middle place between the two; you 
must have either life or. death. 

And we are not only to offer you life ; but to 
show you the grounds on which we do it, and 
call you to believe that God does mean indeed 


206 A CALL TO FHE UNCONVERTED. 


as he speaks; that the promise is true, and ex- 
tends conditionally to you as well as others. 

If you ask, Where is our commission for this 
offer—among a hundred texts of Scripture : I 
will show it.to you in these few :— 

First, you see it here in my text, and in the 
following verses, and in the eighteenth of 
Ezekiel, as plain as can be spoken. And in 
2 Cor. v, 17—21, you have the very sum of our 
commission: If any man be in Christ, he is a 
new creature: old things are passed away: be- 
hold all things are become new. . And all things 
are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself 
by Jesus Christ, and hath given us the ministry 
of reconciliation ; to wit, that God was in Christ 
reconciling-the world. unto himself ; not imputing 
their trespasses to them; and ~hath committed 
unto us the word. of reconciliation : now then we 
are ambassadors: for Christ, as though God did 
beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, 
be ye reconciled unto God: for he hath made 
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we 
might be made the righteousness of Godin him. 

You see that we are commanded to offer life 
to you all, and to tell you from God, that if you 
will turn you may live. 

Here you may safely trust your souls ; for the 
love of God is the fountain of this oflier. John 
ili, 16 ; and the blood of the Son of God has 
purchased it : the faithfulness and truth of God 
are engaged to make the promise good: mira- 
cles have sealed the truth of it: preachers are 
sent through the world to proclaim it, the sacra 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED, 207 


ments are instituted for the solemn delivery of 
the mercy offered, to them that will-accept it ; 
and the Spirit opens the heart to entertain it, 
and is itself the earnest of the full possession. 
So that the truth of it is past controversy, that 
_the worst of you all, and every one of you, if 
you will but be converted, may-be saved. 
Indeed, if you believe that you shall be saved 
without conversion, then you believe a. false- 
hood; andif I should preach that to-you, I 
should preach a lie: this. were not to believe 
God, but the devil and your own deceitful 
hearts. God-has his promise of life, and the 
devil has his promise of life. God’s promise 
is return and lie; the devil’s promise is, you 
shall live whether you turn or not. The words 
of God are as | have shown you, Except. ye be 
converted, and become as little children, ye can- 
not enter the kingdom of heaven, Matt. xviii, 3. 
Except a man be born again he cannot enter into 
the kingdom of God, John iii, 3, 5. Without 
holiness none shall see God, Heb. xii, 14.. The 
devil’s word is, You may be saved without being 
born again, or converted ; you may do well enough 
without being holy ; God does but frighten you ; 
he is more merezful than to do as he says ; he will 
be better to you than his word. And alas! the 
greatest part of the world believe this word of 
the devil before the word of God; just as our 
first sin and misery came into the world. God 
said to our first parents, If ye eat, ye shall die. 
And the deyil contradicts him and says, Ye 
shall not die; and the woman believed the 


208 . A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


devil before God. So now the Lord saith, Turn 
or die; and the devil says, You shall not die, if 
you do but cry to God for merey at last: And 
this is the word which the world believes. O 
heinous wickedness, to believe the devil before 
God! 

And yet this is not the worst: but blasphe- 
mously they call this a believing and trusting 
God, when they put him in the shape of Satan, 
who was a liar from the beginning ; and when 
they believe that the word of God is a lie, they 
call this a trusting God, and say they believe in 
him, and trust on him fer salvation. Where did 
ever God say that the unconverted. shall be 
saved? Show sucha word in Scripture. I chal- 
lenge you if you can. Why-this is the devil’s 
word, and to believe it is to believe the devil. 
And do you call this believing and trusting God ? 
There is enough in the word of God to comfort 
and strengthen the hearts of the sanctified ; -but 
not a word to strengthen the hands of wicked- 
ness, or to give men the least hope of being 
saved, though they are never sanctified. 

But if you. will turn, and come in the way of 
mercy, the mercy of the Lord is ready to enter- 
tain you. Then trust God for salvation, boldly 
and confidently ; for he isengaged by his word 
to save you. He will bea father to none but 
his children, and he will save none but those 
that forsake the world, the devil, and the flesh, 
and come.into his family, to be members of his 
Son, and have communion with his saints. But 
if they will not come in. it is their own fault . 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 209 


his doors are open. He keeps none back: he 
is still ready to receive you if you were but 
ready unfeignedly, and with all your hearts, to 
turn. And the fulness of his truth will yet 
more appear in the two following doctrines. 


DOCTRINE. III. 


God takes pleasure in men’s conversion and sal- 
vation ; not in their death or damnation : he 
had rather they would return and live, than 
go on and die. 


For the proof of this point, I shall be very 
brief, because I suppose you believe it already. 

1. The gracious nature of God has proclaimed, 
and frequently assured you of this, that he has 
no pleasure in your death. 

2. If God had more pleasure in thy death. 
than in thy conversion and life, he would not 
have so frequently commanded thee, in his word, 
to turn ; he-would not have made thee such pro. 
mises of life if thou wilt turn: he would not 
have persuaded thee to it by so many reasons. 
The tenor of his Gospel proves the point. 

3. And his commission which he has given 
to the ministers of the Gospel does fully prove 
it. If God had taken more pleasure in thy 
damnation than in thy conversion and salvation, 
he would never have charged us to offer you 
mercy, and to teach you the way of life, both 
publicly and privately; and -to entreat and 
beseech you to turn and live; to’ acquaint you 
with your sins, and tell you of your danger ; 
and to do all that possibly we can for your con- 

14 


210 <A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


version, and to continue patiently so doing, 
though you shall hate or abuse us for our pains. 
Would God have done this if he had taken 
pleasure in your death? 

4, Itis proved also by the course of his pro- 
vidence. If God had rather you were damned 
than saved, he would not second his word with 
his works, and entice you by his daily kindness, 
and give you all the mercies of this life, which 
are means to lead you to repentance, Rom. ii, 4, 
and bring you so often under his ‘rod, to force 
you into. your wits: he would not set so many 
examples before your eyes, no, nor wait on you 
so patiently as he does from day to day, and 
year to year. . These are not signs’of one that 
takés pleasure i in your death. If this had been 
his delight, how easily could he have had thee 
long ago in hell! How oft-before this could he 
have snatched thee away, in the midst of thy 
sins, with a curse, or oath, or lie in thy mouth! 
When thou wast: last in thy drunkenness, or 
deriding the ways of God, how easily could he 
have stopped thy. breath, and made thee sober in 
another world! Alas !: how small-a matter is it 
for the Almighty to rule the tongue of the pro- 
fanest railer, and tie the hands of the most ma- 
licious ‘persecutor, or calm: the fury of the bit- 
terest of his enemies, and make them know that 
they are but worms! Ifhe did-but frown upon 
thee thou wouldest drop.into thy grave. If he 
gave commission to one of his angels'to go and 
destroy ten thousand sinners, how quickly would 
it he donet How easily can he lay thee upon 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 211 


the bed of languishing, and make thee lie roar- 
ing there in pain, and eat the words of reproach 
which thou hast spoken against his servants, 
his word, his worship, and his holy..ways! how 
easily can he lay that flesh under groans, and 
make it more: loathsome than the dung of the 
earth! That flesh which must now have what 
it loves, and) must not be displeased, though 
God be displeased; and must be humoured in 
meat, and drink, and clothes, whatever God say 
to the contrary, how quickly would the frown 
of God consume it! When thou wast passion- 
ately defending thy sin, and quarrelling with 
them that would have drawn thee from it, and 
pleading for the works of darkness, how easily 
could God have snatched thee away in a mo- 
ment, and set thee before his ‘dreadful majesty, 
(where thou’ shouldest see ten thousand times 
ten thousand glorious angels waiting on his 
throne) and have asked thee, What hast thou 
now to say against thy Creator, his truth, his 
servants, or his holy ways? Now plead thy 
cause, and make the best of it thou canst: Now, 
what canst thou say in excuse of thy sins? - Now, 
give an account of thy time, and of all the mer- 
cies thou hast had. O how thy stubborn heart 
would have melted, and thy countenance have 
been appalled, and thy stout words turned into 
speechless. silence or dreadful cries; if God 
had but set thee thus at his bar, and pleaded 
his own cause with thee! How éasily can he, 
at any time, say to thy guilty soul, Come away, 
and live in that flesh no more. till the resurrec- 


212 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


tion. And it cannot celal A word of his 

mouth would take off the poise of thy present 

life, and then all thy parts and powers would 

stand still.. And if he were to say to thee, Live 

no longer, or live in hell, thou couldest not 
gtisohey: 

* But God has done none of this; but has 
patiently foreborne thee, and mercifully upheld 
thee ; and given thee that breath which thou 
didst breathe out against him, and given thee 
those mercies which thou didst sacrifice to thy 
flesh, and afforded thee-that provision which 
thou spentest to satisfy thy greedy appetite : he 
gave thee every minute of that time’ which thou 
didst waste in idleness‘or drunkenness. And 
does not all this patience and mercy show that 
he desires not thy damnation ? Can the candle. 
burn ‘without the oil? Can your houses stand 
without the earth to bear them? As well as 
you can live an hour without the support of 
God. And why did he so long support thy life, 
but to see when thou. wouldest bethink thee of 
the folly of thy ways, and return and live 1— 
Will any man purposely put arms into. his ene- 
my’s hands to'resist him? Or hold-a candle to 
a murderer who is killing his children? Surely 
it isto see whether thou “wil€ at last return and 
live, that God has so long waited on thee. 

_ 5. Itis farther proved by the sufferings of his 
Son, that God takes no pleasure in the death 
of the wicked ; would he have ransomed them 
from death at so dear a rate? Would he have 
astonished angels-and men by his condescen- 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 213 


sion ? Would God have dwelt in the flesh, and 
come in the form of a servant, and have lived 
a life of suffering, and died a cursed death for 
sinners, if he had taken pleasure in their death ? 
Suppose you saw him praying with the drops of 
blood trickling from him instead of sweat, or 
suffering a cursed death upon the cross, and 
pouring “out his soul as a sacrifice for our sins ; 
would you have thought these the signs of one 
that delights in the “death of the wicked? If 
you had seen and heard him weeping and be- 
moaning the state of disobedience in impenitent 
people, or complaining of-their stubbornness, 
as Matt. xxui, 37, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
how oft, would I have gathered thy children 
together, even ds a hen gathereth her chickens 
under her wings, and’ ye would not! Or if you 
had seen and heard him. on the cross, praying 
for his persecutors, Father, forgive them, for 
they know not what they do; would you have 
suspected that he had delighted in the death of 
the wicked, even of those that perish by their 
wilful unbelief? When God, hath so loved (not 
only. loved, but so loved).as to-give his only- 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life: he 
has proved against the malice of men and devils, 
that he takes no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked, but had rather they would turn and live. 

6. Lastly, If all this will not satisfy you, take 
his own word, who knows best his own mind, 
or at least believe his-oath: but this se me 
to the fourth doctrine. | 


214. A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


DOCTRINE IV. 


The Lord hath confirmed to us by his oath that 
he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 
but had rather that he should turn and live ; 
that he may leave man no Fberis to question 
the truth of tt. 


Ir you dare question his wei 5 hope you 
dare not question his oath. As Christ has so- 
lemnly protested that the unconverted cannot 
enter into the kingdom of heaven: so God has 
sworn that his pleasure is not in their death, but 
in their conversion and life. And as the apostle 
says, Heb. vi, 13, 16, 17, 18; 19, Because 
he-could swear by no greater, he sware by him- 
self. For men verily swear by the greater, and 
an oath for confirmation, is to them an end of all 
strife. Wherein God willing more. abundantly 
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability 
of his counsel, confirmed tt by an oath ; that by 
two immutable things, in which it was impossible 
for God to lie, he. might have a strong consola- 
tion, who had fled for refuge to lay hold on the 
hope set before us; which hope we have as an 
anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast. If 
there be any man who cannot reconcile this truth 
with the damnation of the wicked, that is owing 
to his own ignorance; he has no pretence left 
to ‘deny or question therefore the truth of the 
point in hand: for this is confirmed by: the oath 
of God, and therefore must not be distorted to 
reduce it to other points; but doubtful points 
must rather be reduced to it, and certain truths 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 215 


must be believed to agree with it, though our 
shallow brains hardly discern the agreement. 


USE. 


I po now entreat thee, if thou be an uncon- 
verted sinner who hearest these words, that 
thou wouldest bethink thyself awhile, who is it 
that takes pleasure in thy sin and damnation? 
Certainly it isnot God; he -has-sworn for his 
part that he takes no pleasure, in it. And I 
know it is not the pleasing’ of him that you in- 
tend init. You-dare not say that you drink, 
and swear, and neglect holy duties, and quench 
the motions of the Spirit to please God. That 
were as if you should reproach the prince, and 
break his laws, and seek his death, and say. you 
did all this to please him.’ 

Who is it then that takes pleasure i in your sin 
and death? Not any that bear the image of 
God, for they must..be like minded to him.— 
God knows it is small pleasure to your teachers, 
to see you wilfully run into the flames of ‘hell. 
Alas! to foresee your everlasting torments, and 
know not how to prevent them,,is to see how 
near you are to hell, and we cannot make you 
believe it and consider it. .To see how easily, 
how certainly you might escape, if we knew but 
how to make you willing? How fair you are for 
everlasting salvation, if you would but turn and 
do your best, and make it the care and business 
of your lives! but you will not doit! Do you 
think that is a pleasant thing to us? 

Again, it is none of your godly friends. Alas! 


216 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


it is the grief of their souls to see your misery, 
and they lament for you many a time when you 
give them little thanks for it, and when you 
have no hearts to lament for yourselves. 

Who isit then that takes pleasure in your sin? 
It is none but-the- three great. enemies of God, 
whom you renounced in your baptism. 

1. The devil takes pleasure in your sin and 
death: for this is the end of all his temptations. | 
You cannot please him better than to. go on in 
sin: how glad is he when he sees thee go to the 
ale-house, and when he hears thee curse, or 
swear, or rail! ‘These are his delight. 

2. The wicked are also deligiren in it, for it 
is agreeable to their nature. 

3. But I know, for all this, that ae is not the 
pleasing of the devil that you intend; but it is 
your own flesh, the greatest and most dangerous 
enemy. It is the flesh that would be pleased 
in meat, and drink, and clothing ; that would be 
pleased in company, and applause, and eredit 
with the world; and this is the gulf that devours 
all; this is the very God you serve. For the 
Scripture says of such, That their belly is their 
god, Phil. iii, 19. 

But I beseech you stay a little and consider 
the business. 

Your flesh is pleased with your sin: but is 
your conscience pleased ? Does not it tell you 
sometimes, that allis not well, and that your 
case is not so safe as you make it to be? And 
should not your soul and conscience be pleased 
before that corrupt flesh? Again, is not your 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 217 


flesh, preparing for its own displeasure also ? It 
loves the bait ; but does not love the hook! It 
loves the strong drink and -sweet morsels ; it 
loves its ease, its sports, and merriment ; it loves 
to be rich and well spoken of by men, and to be 
somebody in the world: but does it love the 
curse of God? Does it love to stand trembling 
before his bar, and to be judged to everlasting 
fire? Does it love to be tormented-with devils 
for ever? Take all together ; for there is no se- 
parating sinand hell. If you will keep one you 
must have the other. If death and hell be plea- 
sant to you, no. wonder then if you go.on in sin : 
but if they be not, then what if sin were ever 
so pleasant, is it worth the loss of life eternal ? 
Is a little drink, or meat, or ease ; is. the good 
word of sinne.’s, or the riches of the world, to 
be valued above the joys of heaven? Or are 
they worth the sufferings of eternal fire? These 
questions should be considered before you go 
any farther, by every man’that hath reason to 
consider, a believes he has a soul to save or 
lose. 

Well, the Lord oer swears that he has no 
pleasure i in your death, but had rather that you 
would turn and live. If yet you will go on, and 
die rather than turn, remember it was not to 
please God that you did it : it was to please the 
world, and to please yourselves. And if men 
will damn themselves to please themselves, and run 
into endless torments for delight : what remedy 
but they must take what they get by it, and repent 
it in another manner, when it is too late. 


218 A’ CALL TO’ THE UNCONVERTED. 


DOCTRINE V. | 


So earnest is God for the conversion of sinners, 
that he doubles his commands and exhortations 
with vehemency: Turn ye, turn ye, why will 
ye die ? ' 


Is there ever an unconverted sinner that hears 
these vehement words of God? Is there ever a 
man or woman that is yet a stranger to the 
renewing, sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost ? 
Hearken then to the voice of your Maker, and 
turn to him. by Christ, without delay. . Would 
you know the will of God? why this is his will, 
that you presently turn. Shall the living God 
send so earnest a message. to his creatures, and 
should they not obey? Hearken then, all ye 
that live after the flesh, the Lord that gave thee 
thy breath, hath sent. a message to thee from 
heaven; and this is his message, Furn ye, turn 
ye, why ‘will ye die? He that has ears to hear, 
let him hear. Shall the ‘voice of Eternal Ma- 
jesty be neglected? If he do but terribly thun- 
der, thou art afraid. O but this voice does 
more nearly coricern thee. If he did but tell 
thee, thou shalt die to-morrow, thou wouldest 
not make light of it, O but this word concerns 
thy life or death everlasting. It is both a com- 
mand and exhortation. Asif he -had said to 
thee, “ I charge thee upon the allegiance which 
thou owest me, thy Creator and Redeemer, that 
thou renounce the. flesh, ‘the world, and° the 
devil, and turn to me, that thou mayest live. 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 219 


I condescend to entreat thee, as thou either 
lovest or fearest him: that made-thee;.as thou 
lovest thine own life, even thine everlasting life, 
turn and live: as ever thou wouldest escape 
eternal: misery, turn, turn, for why wilt thou 
die 7’ Andis there-a heart in man, in a reason- 
able creature, that can refuse such a message, 
such a command, such an exhortation as-this ? 
What a thing then is the heart of man! | 

Hearken then, all that love yourselves, all 
that regard your own salvation ; here is the joy- 
fulest message that ever was sent to the ears of 
man, Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? You 
are not yet shut up under desperation. Here is 
mercy offered you : turn,.and you shall have it. 
With what joyful hearts would you receive these 
tidings! I know this is not the first time that 
you have heard them: but how have you regarded 
them, or how do you regard them now? Hear, 
all you ignorant, careless sinners, the word of 
the Lord! Hear, all ye gluttons, drunkards, 
whoremongers ‘and swearers, railers and back- 
biters, slanderers and liars: Turn ye, turn ye, 
why will ye die? 

Hear, all ye’cold and outside professors, all 
that are strangers to the life of Christ, and 
never knew the power of his resurrection, never 
felt your hearts warmed with his love : Turn 
ye, turn ye, why will ye die ? 

Hear, all that are void of God, whose hearts 
are not toward him, nor taken up with the hopes | 
of glory, but set more on earthly prosperity and 
delights, than on the joys of heaven ; all ye that 


220 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


are religious but by the by, and give God ne 
more than your flesh can spare: that have not 
denied yourselves and forsaken all that you have 
for Christ; but have one thing in the world so 
dear that you cannot spare it for them, but will 
rather venture on his displeasure than forsake 
it, Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? 

If you never heard it, or observed it before, 
remember that you were told from the word of 
God this day, that if you will-but turn you may 
live: and if you will not turn you shall surely 
die.- : 1 
What now will you do? What is your resolu- 
tion? Will you turn or will you not? Halt no 
longer between-two opinions: if the Lord be 
God, follow him: if your flesh be God, then 
serve it still. If heaven be better than earth, 
come away and seek another country, and lay 
up your treasures where moths or rust do not 
corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal ; 
and with all your might, seek the kingdom that 
cannot be moved: employ your minds on a 
higher design, and turn the stream of your care 
and labours another way than formerly you 
have done. But if earth be better than heaven, 
then keep it and follow it still.. Are you resolved 
what to do? If you be not, I will set a xe more 

considerations before you. 

Consider, first, what preparations mercy ‘has 
made for your salvation ; and what pity it is 
that man’should be damned after all this. God 
has» made to thee a free act of oblivion, and a 
free deed of gift of Christ and life, and offers it 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 221 


to thee, and entreats thee to accept it, and it 
may be thine if thou wilt. Forhe was in Christ, 
reconciling the world unto himself, and hath 
committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 
Sinners, we are commanded. to deliver’ this 
message to you all, as from the Lord, Come, 
for all things are now ready, Luke xiv, 17.— 
Are all things .ready, and are you unready? 
God is ready to pardon all that you have done 
against him, if you will but come. As long as 
you have sinned, he is ready to cast all behind 
his back if you ‘will but come. Though you 
have been prodigals, and run away from God, 
and have stayed so long, he is ready to meet you, 
and embrace you in his arms, if you will but 
turn. Even the swinish drunkards may find God 
ready to bid them welcome, if they will but 
come. Does not this turn thy heart within thee ? 
O sinner, if thou have.a heart of flesh, and not 
of stone, methinks this shall melt it. Shall the 
dreadful infinite Majesty of heaven wait for thy 
returning, and be~-ready to receive thee, who 
hast abused him, and forgotten him so long? 
Shall he delight in -thy conversion, who might, 
at any time, glorify his justice in thy damnation, 
and yet does it not melt thy heart within thee, 
and art thou not ready to come‘in? Hast thou 
not as much.reason to be ready to come, as God 
has to invite thee and bid thee welcome ? 

Christ has done his part’ on the cross,‘and 
made such way for thee to the Father, that on 
his account thou mayest be welcome if thou 
wilt come, and yet art thou not ready ?.- 


222 A CALL TO. THE UNCONVERTED:, 


A pardon is already expressly granted, and 
offered -thee in the Gospel. And yet-art thou 
not ready ? 

The ministers, of the Gospel. are ready to 
assist thee, to instruct thee; and pronounce peace 
to thy soul; they are ready to pray for thee, and 
to seal thy pardon by the administration of the 
holy sacrament, and yet art thou not ready ? 

Yea, heaven itself is ready: the Lord will 
receive thee in the glory of .his’ saints, as vile 
a beast as thou hast been, if thou wilt but be 
cleansed; thou mayest have a place before his 
throne: his angels will be ready to guard thy 
soul to the place of joy, if thou do but unfeign- 
edly come-in. And is God ready, the sacri- 
fice of Christ ready, and pardon. ready? Are 
ministers ready, and heaven itself ready, and 
angels ready, and all these waiting for thy con- 
version, and yet art.thou not ready ?-What, not 
ready to live, when thou hast been dead so long? 2 
Not ready to come to thy right understanding 
when thou: hast been beside thyself so long? 
Art thou not. ready to lay hold on Christ who 
would deliver thee when thou art even ready to 
drown and sink into damnation? Art thou not 
ready to be saved from hell when thou art ready 
to be cast. into it? Alas, man, dost thou know 
what thou doest ? [f you die unconverted, there 
is no doubt-to be made of thy damnation, and 
thou art not sure to live an hour; and yet thou 
art not ready to turn and come in! O miserable 
wretch! hast thou not served the devil and the 
flesh long enough? Hast thou not yet enough ~ 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 223 


of sin? Isit so good to thee, or. so profitable for 
thee? Dost thou know -what it is, that thou 
wouldest have more of it? hast thouhad so many 
calls, and so many mercies, and so many blows, 
and so many examples : hast thou seen so many 
laid in their grave, and yet art thou not ready to 
let go thy sins and come to Christ ?, What, after 
so many convictions, and gripes of conscience, 
after so many purposes, and promises, are thou 
not yet ready to turn and live? O that thy eyes, 
thy heart, were opened to know how fair an offer 
is now made to thee ! and what.a joyful message 
it is that we are sent on, to bid thee a for 
all things are ready. . | 

oie Consider also what calls thou Bnet to turn 
and live, how many, how loud, how earnest, 
how dreadful, and a what eneouraging, joyful 
calls. 

For the Sincistns inviter, it is God himself. 
He that commands. heaven and earth, com- 
mands thee to turn, and now without delay, to 
turn: he commands the sun to run its course, 
and to rise upon thee every morning; and 
though it is so glorious a creature, yet it obeys 
him,.and fails not one, minute of its appointed 
time. He commands all the planets, and all 
the orbs of heaven, and they obey ; he com- 
mands the sea to ebb and flow, and the whole 
creation to keep its course, and all obey him: 
the angels of heaven obey’ his will, when he 
sends them to minister to such _ silly worms as 
we on earth. And yetif he commands but a 
sinner to turn, he will not obey him: he only 


224 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


thinks himself wiser than God, and he cavils, 
and will not obey. ' 

If thou hadst any love in thee, thou wouldest 
know the voice, and say, O this is my Father’s 
call: how can I find in my heart to disobey ? 
If thou hadst any sense in thee, at least, thou 
wouldest say, This call is the dreadful voice of 
God, and who dare disobey? God is not a 
man that thou shouldest tyifle*and play with 
him: wilt thou yet.go on and despise his word, 
and resist his Spirit, and stop thine ear against 
his call? Who is it that will have the worst of 
this? Dost thou know whom thou disobeyest 
and contendest with, and what thou art doing ? 
It were a far wiser and easier task for thee to 
contend with the thorns, and spurn them with 
thy bare feet, and beat them with thy bare 
hands, or put thy head into the burning fire.— 
Be not deceived, God will not be mocked. ‘Who- 
ever else be mocked, God will not: you had 
better play with the fire in your thatch, than 
with the fire of his burning wrath. — For our 
God is a consuming fire, Heb. xii, 29. O how 
unmeet a match art thou for God! It is a fear- 
ful thing to fall into his hands, Heb. x, 31; and 
therefore it is a fearful thing to’ contend with 
him or to resist him. As you love your own 
soul, take heed what you do. What. will you 
say, if he begin in wrath to plead with you? 
What will you do, if he take you once in hand? 
Will you then strive against his judgment, as 
now ye do against his grace? “Who would 
set the briers and thorns against me in battle ? 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 225 


I would go through them; I would burn them 
together. Or let him take hold-of my, strength, 
that he may make” peace with me, and he shall 
make peace with me.” It is an unequal com- 
bat for the briers and stubble to make war with 
the fire. 

You see who it is that calls you.. Consider 
also by what insiruments,-and how often, and 
how earnestly he does it. 

1. Every leaf of the blessed book of God has 
asit were a-voice, and calls out, Turn and live ; 
turn, or thou wilt die.. _How canst thou open it, 
or read a leaf or hear a chapter, and not per- 
ceive God bids thee turn ? 

2. The voice of many a motion of the Spirit 
secretly urges thee to turn. 

3. The voice of conscience. Art thou not 
sometimes convinced that it is not well with 
thee? and does not thy conscience tell thee 
that thou must be a new man, and take a new 
course ! 

4, The voice of all the works of God. For 
they also are God’s books, that teach thee this 
lesson, by showing thee his greatness, and wis- 
dom, and goodness, and calling thee to observe 
them and admire the Creator. Psalm xix, 1, 2, 
‘The heavens declare the glory of God, and the 

rmament showeth his handy- work. Day unto 

day uttereth speech, and night unto night show- 

eth knowledge. -E:very time the sun rises upon 

thee, it calls thee to turn, as if it should say, 

“ What do I travel and compass the world for, 

but to declare to men the glory of their Maker, 
15 


226 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


and to light them to do his work? . And do I 
still find thee doing the work of sin, and sleep- 
ing out thy life in’ negligence! Awake, thou 
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and 
Christ shall give thee light.” 

5. The voice of every mercy thou dost pos- 
sess. . If thou couldest but hear and understand 
them, they all cry unto thee, Turn. Why does 
the earth bear thee, but to seek and serve the 
Lord?’ Why does it afford thee its fruit, but 
to serve him? Why do all the creatures serve 
thee with their labours, and their lives, but 
that thou mightest serve the Lord of them and 
thee? Why does he give thee time, health, and 
strength, but to serve him? Why hast thou 
meat, and drink, and clothes, but for his ser- 
vice! Hast thou any thing which thou hast 
not received? And if thou didst receive them, 
it is reason thou shouldst bethink thee, from 
whom, and to what end and use thou didst 
receive them. Didst thou never cry to him for 
help in thy distress? And didst thou not then 
understand that it was thy part to turn and 
serve him, if he would deliver thee? He has 
done his part and spared thee yet longer, and 
tried thee another and another year, and yet 
dost thou not turn!’ - How many years has God 
looked for the fruits of love. and holiness from 
thee, and has found none? And yet he has 
spared thee ! How many a time, by thy wilful 
ignorance, and carelessness, and disobedience, 
hast thou provoked justice to say, Cut him 
down ; why cumbereth he the ground? And yet 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 227 


mercy has prevailed, and patience has forborne 
the killing, damning blow, to this day. If thou 
hadst the understanding of aman within thee, 
thou.must know that all this calls thee to turn. 

6. Moreover, the. voice of every affliction 
calls thee to make haste and turn. Sickness 
and pain cry, Turn; and poverty, and loss of 
friends, and every chastening rod, cry, Turn 
and yet wilt thou not hearken to the call ? 

7. Yea, thine own engagements, by promise 
to the Lord, call upon thee to turn and serve 
him. Thou hast bound thyself-to him by a 
baptismal covenant, to renounce the world, the 
flesh, and the devil. This thou hast confirmed 
by the profession of Christianity,-and renewed 
it at sacraments, or in-time of affliction ; and 
wilt thou promise and vow, and never perform 
and turn to God? bu 

Lay all these together now. The Holy 
Seripture calls upon thee to turn: the Spirit 
cries, Turn: thy conscience cries, Turn: the 
whole world, and all the creatures therein, cry. 
Turn: the patient forbearance of God cries, 
Turn : all the-merczes thou receivest cry, Turn: 
the rod of God’s chastisement cries; Turn: and 
so do all thy promises to God: and yet art thou 
not resolved to turn 2 

Moreover, poor hard-hearted sinner !. didst 
thou ever consider wpon what-terms thou stand- 
est all this while with Him who calls on thee to 
turn: thou art his own, and owest him thyself, 
and all thou hast; and may he not command 
his own? Thou art his absolute: servant, and 


228 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


shouldest serve no other master. ‘Thou standest 
at his mercy, and thy life isin his hand; and 
he is resolved to save thee upon no other terms : 
thou hast many malicious, spiritual enemies, 
who would be glad if God. would but forsake 
thee, and let them:alone with thee, and leave 
thee to their will: how quickly would they deal 
with thee in another: manner! And thou canst 
not be delivered from them, but by turning unto 
God. Thou art fallen under his wrath by thy 
sin already; and thou knowest not how long 
his patience will yet wait. Perhaps this is the 
last year: perhaps.the last day. | His sword is 
even at thy heart while the word is in thine 
ear ; and if thou turn not, thou art a dead man. 
Were thy eyes but. open to see where thou 
standest, even upon the brink of hell, and to 
see how many thousands are there already, thou 
wouldest see that-it is time to look about thee. 

O what glad tidings would it be to those that 
are now in hell, if they had but such a message 
from God! What a joyful word would it be to 
hear this, Turn and live! Yea, what a wel- 
come word would it be to thyself, if thou hadst 
felt that wrath of God but an hour! Or, if after 
a thousand years’ torment, thou couldest but 
hear.such a word from God, Turn and live ! 
And yet wilt thou_now neglect it, and suffer us 
to return without our errand ? 

Behold, sinners, we are sent here as the mes- 
sengers of the Lord, to set before you life and 
death: what say you? which of them will you 
choose? Christ stands as it were by thee, with 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 229 


heaven in one hand, and hell in the other, and 
offers thee thy choice ; which wilt thou choose? 
The voice of the Lord maketh the rocks to trem- 
ble. Butitis nothing to hear him threaten thee, 
if thou wilt not turn. Dost thou not understand. 
and feelt his voice, Turn ye, turn ye, why will 
ye die? Why it is the voice of love, of infinite 
love, of thy best and kindest friend ; and yet 
canst thou neglect it? It is the voice of pity 
and compassion. The Lord sees whither thou 
art going better than thou dost, which makes 
him call after thee, Turn, turn: he sees what 
will become of thee if thou turn not. he thinks 
with himself, “ Ah, this poor sinner will cast 
himself into endless torments if he do not turn : 
I must in justice deal with him according to 
my righteous law ;” and therefore he calls after 
thee, Turn, turn, O sinner! If thou did but 
know the thousandth part, as well as God does, 
of the danger that is near you, and the misery 
you are running into, we should have no more 
need to call after you to. turn. 

Well, are you yet resolved, or are you not? 
Do I need to say any more to you? What will 
you do? Will you turn or not? Speak, man, | 
in thy heart to God. Speak, lest he take thy 
silence for denial; speak quickly, lest he never 
make thee the like offer more. Speak resolved- 
ly, and not waveringly; for he will have no 
indifferents to be his followers. Say in thy heart 
now without any more delay, even before thou 
stir hence, “ By the grace of God I am resolved 
presently to turn. And because I know mine 


230 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


own insufficiency, I am resolved to wait on God 
for his grace, and to follow him in his ways, and 
forsake my former companions, and give ‘up 
ypveellis to the guidance of the Lord.’ t 


DOCTRINE VI. 


The- Lord condescends to reason the case with 
unconverted sinners, and to ask them why they 
will die. 


A stranceE disputation it is, both as to the 
controversy, ‘and as to the disputants. 

1. The controversy or question propounded, 
Why wicked men will damn. themselves? Or, 
Why they will rather die than turn? Whether 
they have any sufficient reason for so doing ? 

2. The disputants are God and man; the 
most holy God, and wicked, unconverted sinners. 

Is it not a strange thing that any man should 
be willing to die,and be damned? Yea, that 
this should be the case of the greatest part of 
the world? But you will say, This cannot be, 
for nature desires the preservation of itself. 

I answer, 1. It is a certain truth that no man 
can will any evil, as evil, but only as it has 
some appearance of good. Misery, as such, 
is desired by none. 2. But yet it is most true, 
that the cause why the wicked die, and are 
damned, is because they will die and be damned, 
And this is true in several respects :— 

1. They will go the way that leads to hell; 
though they are told by God and man whither 
it leads ; and though God has so often professed 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 231 


in his word, that if they hold on in that way, 
they shall be condemned ; and that they shall 
not be saved unless they turn. They have 
the word and the oath of the living God for it, 
that if they will not turn, they shall not enter 
into his rest. And yet wicked they are, and 
wicked they will be, let God and man say what 
they will. So that consequentially these men 
are willing to be damned, though not directly : 
they choose the way to hell and love the certain 
cause of their torments: though they do not 
will hell itself, and do not love the pain which 
they must endure. 

Is not this the truth ef your case? You would 
not burn in hell, but you will cast yourselves 
inteit. You weuld net be termented with devils 
for ever, but you willdo that which will certainly 
procure it. Itisasif you would say, “I: will 
drink this ratsbane; but I will not die. I will 
cast myself headlong from the top of a steeple, 
but yet I will not kill myself. I will thrust this 
knife inte my heart, but I will not take away my 
life.” Just so it is with wicked men; they will 
be wicked, and yet they would not be damned. 
But do you not know that God has by his right- 
eous law concluded that you must repent or 
perish? He that will take poison, may as well 
say plainly, I will kill myself ; for it will prove 
no better in the end; though perhaps he loved 
it for the sweetness of the sugar that was mixed 
with it, and would not be persuaded that it was 
poison ; but it is not his conceit and confidence 
that will save his life.. So if you will be drunk. 


232 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


ards, or fornicators, or worldlings, or live after 
the flesh, you may as well say plainly, We will 
be damned : for so you shall be unless you turn. 

Would you not rebuke the folly of a thief, or 
murderer, that. would say, JF will steal or kill, 
but I will not be hanged, when he knows that 
if he do the one, the judge will see that the 
other be done! If he say, “I will steal and 
murder,” he-may as well. say plainly, “I will 
be hanged ;” and if you will go on in a carnal 
life, you may as well plainly say, ¢ We all go 
to hell.” 

2. Moreover, ‘The wicked will not use those 
means without which there is no hope of their 
salvation. He that will not eat, may as well 
say plainly he will not live, unless he can tell 
how to live without meat.. He that will not go 
his journey, may as well say plainly he will not 
come to the end of it. He that falls into the 
water, and will not come out, nor suffer another 
to help him out, may as well say plainly he will 
be drowned. So if you be ungodly, and will 
not be converted, or use the means by which 
you should be converted, you may as well say 
plainly you will be damned. For if. you have 
found out a way to be saved without conver- 
sion, you have done that which:was never. done 
before. 

So that you may-see on what ground it is 
that God. supposes that the wicked will their 
own destruction : they will not turn, though they 
must turn or die; they will rather venture on 
certain misery than be converted; and then to 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 233 


quit themselves in their sins, they make them- 
selves believe that they shall nevertheless es- 
cape. 

3. And as this controversy is matter of won- 
der, so are the disputants too.. That God 
should stoop so low, as thus to plead the case 
with man ; and that men should beso strangely 
blind, and obstinate, as to need all this in so 
plain .a case, yea, and to resist. all this, when 
their own salvation lies upon the issue. 

No wonder, if they will not hear us, who are 
men, when they will not hear the Lord himself : 
as God says, Ezek. iii, 7, when he sent the 
prophet to the Israelites, The house of Israel 
will not hearken unto thee; for they will. not 
hearken unto me; for all the house of Israel 
are impudent and- "hard-hearted. But, Wo un- 
to him (saith the Lord) that ~ striveth with his 
Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the pot- 
sherds of the earth; shall the clay say to him 
that poskieneth ut, Mia! makest thou? Isaiah 
Xiv, 9. 

‘USE. 

Wuat sayest thou, unconverted wretch? 
Darest thou venture/upon a dispute with God? 
Art thou able to confute him? | Art thou ready 
to enter-the lists? God asks thee, Why wilt 
thou die? Art thou furnished with a sufficient 
answer? Wilt thou undertake to prove: that 
God is mistaken ?. O what an undertaking is 
that ! Why, either he or you is mistaken, when 
he is for your conversion, and you are against 


234 A CALL TO. THE UNCONVERTED. 


it; he calls upon you to turn, and you will not ; 
he bids you to do it presently, even to-day, while 
it is called to-day, and you delay, and think it 
time enough hereafter. -He says it must be a 
total change, and you must be holy and new 
creatures ; and you think it is enough to patch 
up the old man, without becoming new. Who 
is in the right way now? God or you?’ God 
calls on you to turn and to live a holy life, and 
you will not; by your disobedient lives, it ap- 
pears you will not. If you will, why do you 
not? Why have you .not done it all this while ? 
And why do you not fall upon it -yet? Your 
wills have the command of your lives. We may 
certainly conclude that you are unwilling. to 
turn, when you do not turn. And why will you 
not? Can you give any reason for it, that is 
worthy to be called a reason ? 

It can be no good reason which is against 
the God of truth. ‘That cannot be light which 
is contrary to the sun. There is no knowledge 
in any creature, but what it had from God ; and 
therefore none can be wiser than God. It were 
damnable presumption for the highest angel to 
compare with his Creator: what is it then for a 
lump of dirt, for an ignorant sot, that knows not 
himself nor his own soul, that knows but little 
of the things which he sees, to set himself 
against the wisdom of the Lord? It is one of 
the fullest discoveries of the horrible wicked- 
ness,-and the stark madness of sinners, that so 
silly a mole dare contradict his Maker, and call 
in question the word of God. 


Be 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 235 


_And as I know that God must needs be in the 
right, so I know the case is so palpable which 
he pleads against, that no man can have reason 
for it. Is it possible that a man can have any 
reason to break his Maker’s law? Reason to 
_dishonour the Lord of glory? Reason to abuse 

the Lord that bought him? Is it possible that 
aman can have any good reason to damn his 
own immortal soul? Mark the Lord’s question, 
Turn ye; turn ye, why will ye die? Is eternal 
death a thing to be desired? Are you in love 
with hell?’ What reason have you wilfully to 
perish ? If you think you have some reason to 
sin, should you not remember that death is the 
wages of sin? And think whether~you have 
any reason to undo yourselves body and soul 
for ever. You should not only ask whether you 
love the adder, but whether you love the sting ? 
It is such a thing for aman to cast away his 
everlasting happiness, that no good reason can 
be given for it: but the more any one pleads 
efor it, the madder he shows himself to be.. Had 
you a lordship or a kingdom offered you for 
every sin you commit, it were not reason but 
madness to accept it. Could you by every sin 
obtain the highest thing on. earth. that flesh 
desires, it were of no considerable value to 
persuade you to commit it. If it were to please 
your greatest or dearest friends, or to obey the 
greatest prince on earth, or to save your lives, 
or to escape the greatest earthly misery.; all 
these are of no consideration, to draw a man to 
the committing of one sin. If it were a right 


236 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


hand, or a right eye, that would hinder your 
salvation, itis the gainfulest way to cut it off 
or pluck it out. For there is no saving a part, 
when you lose the whole. So exceeding great 
are the matters of eternity, that nothing in this 
world deserves to be named in comparison with 
them ; nor can any earthly thing, though it were 
life, “ crowns, or kingdoms, be a reasonable 
excuse for the neglect of matters of everlasting 
consequence. Heaven is‘such a thing, that if 
you lose it, nothing can supply the want, or 
make up your loss; and hell is sucha thing, 
that if you suffer it, nothing can remove your 
misery, or give you. ease and comfort. And 
therefore nothing can be.a valuable -considera- 
tion to excuse you for neglecting your own 
salvation. What shall it profit a man to gain 
the whole world and lose his own soul ? 

O that you did but know what matters they 
are which we are now speaking of! There is 
not a soul in hell but knows by this time that 
it was a mad exchange to-let go heaven for® 
fleshly pleasure, and that it is not a little mirth 
or pleasure, or worldly riches, or honour, that 
will make him a gainer that loses his soul. 

If you see'a man put his hand into the fire 
till it burn off, you will marvel at it; but this is 
a thing which a man may have reason for; as 
Bishop. Cranmer had, when he burnt off his 
hand for subscribing to popery. If you seea 
man cut-off a leg or an arm, it is a sad sight; 
but this isa thing that a man may have good 
reason for,as many a man does to save his life. 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 237 


If you see a man give his body to be burnt to 
ashes, and refuse deliverance when itis offered, 
this is a hard case-to flesh and blood: but this 
a man may have good reason for, as many hun- 
dred martyrshave done. But for a man to run 
into the fire of ‘hell; this is a thing which can 
have no reason in the world to justify it. - For 
heaven will pay for the loss of any thing we can 
lose to get it; or for any labour which we bestow 
for it. But nothing can pay for the loss of 
heaven. . 

I beseech you now let this word come nearer 
to your-hearts. As you are convinced that you 
have no reason to destroy -yourselves, tell me 
what reason you have to refuse to turn and live 
to God? What reason has the most ignorant, 
careless sinner of you all, why he should not be 
as careful for his soul as any other? Will not 
hell be as hot to you as-to others? Should not 
your own souls be as dear to you, as theirs to 
them? Has not God as much authority over 
you? Why then will you not-become a sanc- 
tified people as well as they? 

And now, either you have reason for what 
you do, or you have not. If not, will you go 
on against reason itself? Butif you think you 
have, reason the case a little with me, your fel- 
low creature, which is far easier than to reason 
the case with God. Tellme, man, here before 
the Lord, as if thou wert to die this hour, why 
shouldst thou not resolve to turn this day, be- 
fore thou stir from the place thou standest in? 
What reason hast thou to deny, or to delay ? 


238 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


Hast thou any reason that satisfies thine own 
conscience for it? Or any that thou darest plead 
at the bar of God? If thou hast, let us hear 
them, bring them forth.. But alas, what non- 
sense, instead of reasons, do we daily hear from 
ungodly men? 

1. One says, If none shall be saved, but such 
sanctified ones as you talk of, heaven will-be but 
empty: God help a great many. ~ 

What! it seems you think that God does not 
know, or else that he is not to be believed !— 
Measure not all by yourselves: God has thou- 
sands and millions of his sanctified ones; but 
yet they are few in comparison of the world. 
It better becomes you to make that use of this 
truth which Christ. teaches you: “ Strive to 
enter in at the strait gate; for strait is the 
gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto 
life, and few there be that find it; but wide is 
the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth 
to. destruction, and sia there be that go in 
thereat.” 

Object. 2. Lam sure ) such as I go to hell, 
we shall have store of company. 

Ans. And will that be any ease or comfort 
to you? Or do you think that you may not 
have company enough in heaven? Will you be 
undone for company? or will you not believe 
that God will execute his. threatenings, because 
there are so many that are guilty? 

Object. 3. But I am no whoremonger, nor 
drunkard, nor oppressor; and therefore why 
should you call upon me to be converted ? 


A CALL TO ‘THE. UNCONVERTED. 239 


Ans. As if you were not born after the flesh, 
and had not lived after the flesh, as well as 
others! Is it not as great.a sin as any of these, 
for a man to have an earthly mind, and to love 
the world above God, and to have an unbe-. 
lieving, unhumbled heart?’ Nay, let me tell 
you more ; many persons who avoid disgraceful 
sins, are as fast glued to the world, and as much 
slaves. to the: flesh, and as great strangers ‘to 
God, and averse to heaven, as others are in 
pec more shameful notorious sins. 

Object. 4. But I mean nobody any rit 
nor do any harm; and why then should God 
condemn me ? © 

Ans. Is it no harm to neglect the Lond that 
made thee, and the work for which thou camest 
into the world, and to prefer the creature before 
the Creator, and to neglect grace which is daily | 
offered thee? It is the depth of thy sinfulness 
to be so insensible of it::. the dead feel not that 
they. are dead. If once thou wert alive, thou 
wouldest see enough amiss in thyself, and marvel 
at thyself for making so light of it. 

Object. 5. L think you would make men mad, 
under pretence of converting them. 

_ Ans. 1. Can you be madder than you are 
- already? Or, at least, can there be’ a more 
dangerous madness than to neglect your ever- 
lasting welfare, and wilfully undo yourselves ? 

Aman is never well in his wits till he be 
converted ; he never knows God, nor knows 
sin, nor knows Christ, nor knows the world, 
nor himself, nor what his business is on earth, 


240 A. CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


so as to set himself about it. Is it a wise world, 
when men ‘will run into hell for fear of being 
out of their wits ? 

2. What is there in the work which Christ 

calls you to, that should drive a man out of his 
senses? Is it the loving God, and calling upon 
him, and thinking of the glory to come, and the 
forsaking your sins; and loving one another, and 
delighting ourselves in the ‘service of God? 
Are these such things as make men mad? 

3. And whereas you say that these matters 
are too high for us ;~—are the matters which we 
are made for, and which we live for, too high 
for us to meddle with? This is plainly to un- 
man us, and to make beasts of us, as. if we were 
like them that must meddle with no higher mat- 
ters than what belong to flesh and earth. It 
heaven be too high for you to think on, it will 
be. too high for you ever to possess.. 

4. If God should sometimes suffer any weak- 
headed persons to be distracted by eternal 
things, this is because they misunderstand them, 
and run without a guide. But of the two, I 
had rather be inthe case of such a one, than in 
that of the mad unconverted world, who take 
their distraction to be their wisdom. 

Object. 6. I do not see that it goes any bet- 
ter with these that are so godly, than with other 
men. They are as poor,and in as much trouble, 
as others. 

Ans. And perhaps in much more, when God 
seesit meet. They take not earthly prosperity 
for their wages. - They have laid up their trea- 


¥ 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 241 


sure in another world, or else they are not 
Christians. The less they have, the more is 
behind ; and they are content to wait till then, 

Object. 7. When you have said all that you 
can, I am_ resolved to hope well, and trust in 
God, and do as well as I can, and not make So 
much ado. 

Ans. 1. Is that doing as ie as you can, 
when you will not turn to God, but your heart 
is against his holy service? Itis as well as you 
will indeed : but that is your misery. 

2. My desire is that you should hope in God : 
but for what is it that you will hope? Is it to 
be saved, if you turn and be sanctified? For 
this you have God’s promise; and therefore 
hope for it, and spare not. But if you hope to 
be saved without conversion, this is not to hope 
in God, but in Satan. For God has given you 
no such promise, but. told you the contrary : 
but it is Satan that made you such promises, 
and raised you to such hopes. 

What say you, unconverted sinners? Have 
you any good reason to give, why you should 
not turn, and pr esently turn with all your 
hearts? Or will you go to hell, in despite of 
reason itself? Consider what you do-in time, 
for it will shortly be too late to consider. Can 
you find any fault with God, or his work, or 
wages! Is he a bad Master? Is the devil, 
whom you serve, a better? Is there any harm 
in a holy life? Is a life of ungodliness better ? 
Do you think in your conscience, that it would 
do you any har m to be converted, and live a holy 

(16 


242 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


life? What harm can it do-you? Is it harm to 
you to have the Spirit of Christ within you, 
and to have a purified heart? Is it evil to be 
like God? Is it not said that God made man in 
his image ? Why this holiness is his image ; this 
Adam ‘lost, and this Christ by his word and 
Spirit would restore to you, as he does to all 
that will be saved. Tell me truly, as before the 
Lord; though you are loath to live.a holy life, 
had you not rather die in the case of those that 
do so, than of others? If you were to die this 
day, had you not rather die in the case of a 
converted. man, than of the unconverted? Of 
a holy, heavenly ‘man, than of a carnal and 
earthly man? And would you not say as Ba- 
laam, Numb. xxiii, 10, Let me die the death of 
the righteous, and let my last end be like his ? 
And why will you not now be of the mind which 
you will be of then? First or last you must 
come to this, either to be converted, or to wish 
you had been, when it is too late. 

But what is it that you. are-afraid of losing 
if you turn? Is it your friends ? You will but 
change them. God will be your friend, and 
Christ and the Spirit will be your friend, and 
every Christian will be your friend. You will 
get one friend that will stand youin more stead 
than all the friends in. the world would have 
done. The friends you lose would but have 
enticed you to hell, but could not have delivered 
you; but the friend you get, will save you from 

hell; and bring you to eternal rest. ; 

Is it your “pleasure that you are afraid of 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 243 


losing ? You think you shall never have a merry 
day again if once you be converted. Alas! that 
you should think it a greater pleasure to live in 
foolish sports and merriments, than live in the 
love of God, and- in righteousness, and peace, 
and joy in the Holy Ghost. Ifit be a greater 
pleasure to you to think of your lands and in- 
heritance, (if you were lord of all the country,) 
than it is fora child to play for pins ;-why should 
it not be a greater joy to think of the kingdom 
of heaven being yours, than of all the riches or 
pleasures of the-world? I have had myself but 
a little taste of the heavenly pleasures in the 
forethoughts of the blessed day, and in the pre- 
sent persuasion of the love of God in Christ ; 
but I have taken too deep a draught of earthly 
pleasures ; and yet I must -profess from that little 
experience, that there is'no comparison :. there 
is more joy to be had ina day, (if the Sun of life 
shine clear upon us,) in the state of holiness, 
than in a whole life of sinful pleasures. - It is 
but your unsanctified nature that makes a holy 
life seem grievous to you. If-you will but turn, 
the Holy Ghost will give you another nature, 
and then it will be more pleasant to you to be 
rid of your sin, than now it is to keep it; and 
you will then say, that you knew not: what a 
comfortable life was, till now, and that it was 
never well with you till‘God and holiness were 
your “dehight: a 


244 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


DOCTRINE VII. 


If after all this, men will not turn, it is. ‘not the 
fault of God that they are condemned, but of 
themselves, even their own wilfulness. They 
die, because they will die, that is, because they 

, will not turn. 


Ir you will go to hell, what remedy ? God 
here acquits himself of your blood ; it shall not 
lie on him if you be lost. A neghgent minister 
may draw it upon himself ; and those that en- 
courage you, or hinder you not in sin, may draw 
it upon themselves; but be sure of it, it shall 
not lie upon God. The Lord says, concerning 
his unprofitable vineyard, Isa. v, 3, 4, Judge I 
pray between me and my vineyard. What could 
have been done to my vineyard that I have not 
done in it? What could he have done more? He 
has made you men, and endued you with reason ; 
he -has furnished -you with all external neces- 
saries, all creatures are at your service ; he has 
given you a righteous, perfect law. When you 
had broken it and undone yourselves, he had pity 
on you, and sent his Son by a miracle of. con- 
descending mercy, to die for you, and be a sa- 
crifice for your sins, and he was in Christ, 
reconciling the world unto himself. The Lord 
Jesus has made you a deed of gift of himself, 
and eternal life with him, on the condition you 
will but accept it and return. He has on this 
reasonable condition offered you the free par- 
don of all your sins ; he has written this in his 
word, and sealed it by his Spirit, and sent it to 


‘A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 245 


you by his ministers: they have made the offer 
to-you a hundred, and’ a hundred times, and 
called you to accept it and turn to God. They 
have in his name entreated you,.and reasoned 
the case with you, and answered all your frivo- 
lous objections. He has long waited on you, 
and stayed your leisure, and suffered you to abuse 
him to his face.. He has~ mercifully sustained 
you in the midst of your sins; he has compass- 
ed you about with all sorts of mercies; he has 
also intermixed afflictions to remind you of your 
folly, and call you to your senses : and his Spirit 
has been often striving with your hearts and say- 
ing, “ Turn, sinner, turn to him that calls thee : 
Whither art thou going? What art thou doing ? 
Dost thou know what will be the end? How 
long wilt thou hate thy friends and love thine 
enemies? When wilt thou let go and turn, and 
deliver up thyself to God, and give thy Redeemer 
the possession of thy soul? when shall it once 
be?” These pleadings have been used with thee. 
And when thou hast delayed thou hast been urged 
to make haste, and God has called to thee, To- 
day, while it is called to-day, harden not your 
heart: why not now, without any more delay? 
Life-has been set before you; the joys of hea- 
ven have been opened ‘to you in. the Gospel ; 
the certainty of them has been manifested’; the 
certainty of the everlasting torments of the 
damned has been declared to you. Unless you 
would have had a sight of heaven and hell, what 
could you have desired more? Christ has been, 
as it were, set forth crucified before your eyes. 


246 A €ALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


You have been a hundred times told that you 
are but lost men till you come to him; as often 
you have been told of the evil of sin, of the vanity 
of sin, the world and all the pleasures and wealth 
it can afford; of the shortness and uncertainty 
of your lives, and.the endless duration of the joy 
or torment of the life to come. All this, and 
more than this, have you been told,and told again; 
and though all this has not converted you, yet 
you are alive, and might. have. mercy this day, 
if you had but hearts to entertain it. . And now 
let reason itself be judge, whether it.be the fault 
of God or you, if after all this you will be uncon- 
verted and be damned? If you die now, it is 
because you will die. What could be said more 
to you? Or what course can be taken that is 
likelier to prevail? Are you able to say, and 
make it good, “ We would fain have been con- 
verted, and become new creatures, but we could. 
not ; we would fain have forsaken our sins, but 
could not ; we would have changed our company, 
and our thoughts, and our discourse, but we could 
not.” ;Why could you not if you would? What 
hindered you but the wickedness of your hearts ? 
Who forced you to sin.? or who held you back 
from duty? Did God put in any exceptions 
against you in his word, when he invited sinners 
to return; and when he promised mercy to those 
who do return? Did he say, I will pardon all 
that repent except thee? Did he shut you out 
from the liberty of his holy worship? Did he 
forbid you to pray to him any morethan others? 
You know he did.not. God did not drive you 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 247 


away from him, but you ran away yourselves. 
And when he called you to him you would not 
come. If God had excepted you out of the 
general promise and offer of mercy; or had 
said to you, “ Stand off, I will have nothing to 
do with such as you; if you repent ever so much, 
and cry for mercy ever so much, I will not regard 
you ;” then you had a fair excuse. You might 
have said, To what end shall I repent and turn, 
when it will do no good? But this was not your 
case. You might have had Christ to be your 
Lord and Saviour, your Head and Husband, as 
well as others, and you would not, because you 
felt not yourself sick enough for the physician ; 
and because you could not spare your disease : 
in your heart you said as those rebels, Luke 
xix, 14, We will not have this man to reign over 
us. Christ would have gathered you under the 
wings of his salvation, and you would not. What 
desires of your welfare did the Lord express in 
his hely word?- With what compassion did he 
stand over you and say, “O that my people had 
hearkened unto® me, and that they had walked 
in my ways! O that there were such a heart in 
this people, that they would fear me, and keep 
all my commandments always,.that it might be 
well with them, and with their children for ever ! 
O that they were wise, that they understood this, 
and that they: would consider their latter end !” 
He would have been your God, and done all for 
you that your souls could desire: but you loved 
the world and your flesh above him, and_there- 
fore you would not hearken to him: though you 


248 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


complimented him and gave him high titles, yet 
when it came to the closing, you would have none 
of him. No marvel then, if he gave you up to 
your own heart’s lusts, and you walked in your 
own counsels. He condescends to reason, and 
pleads the case with you, and asks you, “* What 
is there in me or my service, that you should be 
so much against me? What harm have I done 
thee, sinner? Have Ideserved this unkind deal- 
ing at thy hand? many mercies have I showed 
thee: for which of them dost thou thus despise 
me? Is it I, or is it Satan that is thy enemy ? 
Is it I, or is it thyself that would undo thee? Is 
it a holy life, or a life of sin, which thou hast cause 
to fly from? If thou be undone, thou procurest 
this to thyself, by forsaking: me, the Lord that 
would have saved thee.” ‘ Do ye thus requite 
the Lord, O foolish people, and unwise? Is he 
not thy father that hath bought thee? Hath he ~ 
not made thee and established thee?” Deut. 
xxxii, 6. When he saw that you forsook him 
even for nothing, and turned away from your 
Lord, to hunt afer the chaff and feathers of the 
world, he told you of your folly, and called you 
to a more profitable employment. Isa. lv, 2, 3, 
«“ Wherefore do ye spend money for that which 
is not bread, and your labour for that which 
satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and 
cat ye that which is good, and let your soul 
delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and 
come unto me: hear and your soul shall live ; 
and I will make an everlasting covenant with 
you, even the sure mercies of David. ”» And 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 249 


when you would not hear, what complaints have 
you put him to, charging,it on you as your wil- 
fulness and stubbornness! “ Be astonished, O 
ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; for | 
my people have committed two evils: they 
have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters ;” 
and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, 
that will hold no water. Many a time has 
Christ proclaimed that free invitation to you : 

Rev. xxii, 17, Let him that is athirst, come: 

and whosoever will, let him take the waters of 
life freely. But you oblige him to complain 
after all his offers, They will not come to me 
that they may have life, John v, 40. He has 
invited you to a feast with him in the kingdom 
of his grace; and you have had exeuses from 
your grounds, and your cattle, and your worldly 
business, and’ when you would not come, you 
said you could not: and provoked him to resolve 
that you should never taste of his supper. And 
whose fault is it now but your own? And what 
can you Say is the chief cause of your damna- 
tion, but vour own wills ? you would be damned. 


USE... 


1. From iiarins you may see, not only what — 
blasphemy and impiety itis to lay the blame 
of men’s destruction upon God; but also how 
unfit these wicked wretches are to bring in such 
a charge against their Maker.. They cry out . 
against God, and say he giveth them ‘not grace, 
and his threatenings are severe, and God forbid 
that all should be damned that are not converted: 


250 A CALL TO THE. UNCONVERTED,. 


and they think it hard measure; that a short sin 
may have an endless suffering : and if they be 
damned, they say they cannot help it: when in 
the mean time they are busy about their own 
destruction, even cutting the throat of their own 
souls, and will not. be persuaded to hold their 
hands.. They think God would be cruel if he 
should ane them: and yet they are so cruel 
to themselves, that they- will run into the fire of 
hell ; when God has told them it is.a little be- 
fore them, and neither entreatiesnor threatenings, 
nor any thing that can be said, will stop them. 
We see them almost undone: their careless 
worldly lives tell-us. that they. are in the power 
of the devil; we know if they die before they 
are converted, all the world cannot save them: 
and knowing the uncertainty of their lives, we 
are afraid every day lest they fall.into the fire. 
And therefore we entreat them to pity their own 
souls, and not to undo themselves when mercy 
is at -hand: and they will not hear us. We 
entreat them tv cast away their sin, and to come 
to Christ without delay, and to have some mercy 
on themselves ; but they will have none. And 
yet they think that God must be cruel if-he 
condemn.them. O wilful, wretched sinners, it 
is not God that is cruel to you; it is you that 
are cruel to yourselves. You are told that you 
must turn, or burn, and yet you éurn not. You 
are told that if you will keep your sins, you 
shall keep. the curse of God with them: and 
yet you will keep them. You are told that there 
is no way to happiness, but by holiness, and yet 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 251 


you will not be holy. What would you have 
God to say more to you? What would you have 
him do with his mercy? He offers it you, and 
you will not have it. You are in the ditch of 
sin and misery, and he would give you his hand 
to help you out, and. you refuse his help; he 
would cleanse you from your sins, and you 
would rather keep them. Would you have him 
bring you to heaven whether you will or no? 
Or would you have himbring you and your sins © 
to heaven together? Why that’s an impossibility! 
you may as well expect he should turn the sun 
into darkness. What! an unsanctified heart 
be in heaven? It cannot be: there nothing 
entereth that is-unclean, Rev. xxi, 27. “ All the 
day long hath he stretched out his hands to a 
disobedient and gainsaying people.” What will 
you do now ? Will you cry to God for mercy ? 
Why, God calls upon you to.have> mercy upon 
yourselves, and you will not, Ministers see the 
poisoned cup in the drunkard’s hand, and tell 
him, there is poison in it, and desire him to 
have mercy on his soul, and forbear, and he will. 
not hear us: drink it he must and will: he loves 
it, and therefore though hell comes next, he says 
he cannot help it. What should one say to such 
men as these? We tell the ungodly, “It is not 
such a life that will serve the turn, or ever- bring 
rou to heaven. If a bear was at your back, you 
would mend your pace ; and when the curse of 
God is at your back, and Satan and hell are at 
your back, will you not stir, but ask, What needs 
all this ado? Is an immortal soul of’no more 


252 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


worth? O have mercy upon yourselves !” But 
they will have no mercy upon themselves. We 
tell them, the end will be bitter. Who can dwell 
with everlasting fire? And yet they will have 
no mercy upon: themselves. And will these 
shameless wretches say that God is more 
merciful than to condemn them, when it is 
themselves that cruelly run upon condemnation, 
and we cannot stop them? If we fall down on 
our knees to them, we cannot stop them; but 
to hell they will go, and yet will not believe that 
they are going thither. If.we beg of them for 
the sake of God.that made them, and preserves 
them ; for the sake of Christ who died for them ; 
for the sake of their own poor souls, to pity 
themselves, and go no farther in the way to 
hell, but come to Christ while his arms are open, 
and enter into life while the door stands open, 
and now take mercy while mercy may be had ; 
they will not be persuaded. And yet they say 
I hope God will be merciful. Did you never 
consider what he says, Isa. xxvii, 11? “Itisa 
people of no understanding: therefore he that 
made them will not have mercy on them; and 
he that formed them will show them no favour.” 

If another man will not clothe you when you 
are naked, and feed you when you are hungry, 
you will say he is unmerciful. If he should 
cast you into prison, and beat and torment you, 
you would say he is unmerciful. . And yet you 
will do a thousand times more against your- 
selves, even cast away both soul and body for 
ever, and never complain of your own unmer- 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 253 


cifulness. Yea, and God, who waited upon you 
all the while with his mercy, must be taken to 
be unmerciful, if he punish you for all this. 
Unless the holy God of. heaven will give these 
wretches liberty to trample upon. his Son’s 
blood, and do despite to the Spirit of grace, and 
set more lightly by saving mercy, than by the 
filth of their fleshly pleasures ; and unless after 
this he will save them by the mercy which they 
cast away, God himself must be called unmer- 
ciful. But he will be justified when he judgeth ; 
and he will not stand-or fall at the bar ofa 
sinful worm. 

2. From hence you may observe, 1. What a 
subtle tempter Satan is. 2. What.a deceitful 
thing sin is. 3. What a foolish creature cor- 
rupted man is.. A subtle tempter indeed, that 
can persuade the greatest part of the world to 
go wilfully into everlasting fire, when they have 
so many warnings.and dissuasives, A deceitful 
thing is sin indeed, that can bewitch so many 
thousands to, part with everlasting life, for a 
thing so base, and utterly unworthy! A foolish 
creature is man that will be cheated out of his 
salvation for nothing ; yea, for a known nothing : 
and that by an enemy,.and a known enemy. 
You would think it impossible that any man 
should be persuaded for a little to cast himself 
into the fire, or water, to the destruction of this 
life: and yet men will be enticed to cast them- 
selves into hell. If-your natural lives were in 
your own hands, so that you should not die till 
you should kill yourselves, how long would 


254 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


most of you live? and yet when your everlasting 
life is so far in your own hands, under God, 
that you cannot be undone till you undo your- 
selves, how few of: you will forbear your own 
undoing! Ah! what a silly thing is man! and 
what a bewitching and befooling thing is sin ! 

Lastly : You may hence learn, that the great. 
est enemy to man-is himself; and the greatest 
judgment in this life that can befall him, is to be 
left to himself, and that the great work which 
grace has to do, is to save us from ourselves ; 
and the greatest- complaints of men should be 
against themselves ; and the greatest work that 
we have to do ourselves, is to resist ourselyes ; 
’ and the greatest enemy which we should daily 
pray, and watch, and strive against, is ourown 
hearts and wills ; and the greatest part of your 
work, if you will do good to others and help 
them to heaven, is to save them from themselves, 
even from their own blind understandings and 
corrupted wills, and: perverse affections, and 
violent passions, and unruly senses: I only 
name all these for brevity’s sake, and leave 
them to your farther consideration. 

Well, now we have found out the great mur- 
derer of souls, (even men’s selves, their own 
wills,) what remains but that you confess this 
great iniquity before the Lord, and be humbled 
for it, and do so no more. ‘To these three ends 
distinctly, I shall add a few words more.— 
1. Farther to convince you. 2. To humble you. 
And, 3. To reform you. 

1. We know so much of the exceeding gra- 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 255 


cious nature of God, who is willing to do good, 
and delights to show mercy, that we have no 
reason to suspect him of being the cause of our 
death, or-to call him cruel.. He made all good, 
and he preserves and maintains all: the eyes 
of all things wait upon him, and he gives them 
their meat in due season; he opens his hand, 
and satisfies the desires of all the living. He 
is not only rightéous in all his ways, (and there- 
fore will deal justly,) and holy in all his works, 
(and therefore not the author of sin,) but he is 
also good to all; and his tender mercies are 
over all his works. 

But as for man, we dnb w. his. mind is dark, 
his will is perverse, his affections carry him so 
headlong, that he is fitted by his folly and cor- 
ruption to such a work as the destroying of 
himself. Let no man say when he is tempt- 
ed, that he is tempted of God, for God cannot 
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any 
man, (to draw him to sin,) but every man is 
tempted, when he is drawn away of his own 
lust and enticed. Then when lust hath con- 
ceived, it bringeth forth sin, and ‘sin, when it 
is finished, bringeth forth death.” You see 
here that sin is the brat of your own concu- 
piscence, and that death is the offspring of your 
own sin, and the fruit which it will yield you as 
soon as itis ripe. You have a treasure of evil 
in yourselves, as a spider hath of poison, from 
whence youare bringing forth hurt to yourselves, 
and spinning such webs as entangle your own 
souls. 


256 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


2. It is evident that you are your own de- 
stroyers, in that you are so ready to entertain 
any temptation that is offered. Satan is scarce 
readier to move you to any evil than you are 
ready to do as he would have you. If he would 
tempt your understanding to error and prejudice, 
you yield. If he would hinder you from good 
resolutions, it is soon done. If he would 
kindle any vile affection or desire in you, it is 
soon done: if he. would drive you on to evil 
thoughts or deeds, you are so free, that he needs 
no spur: if he would keep you from holy 
thoughts, and words, and ways, a little does it ; 
you need no curb. You examine not his sug: 
gestions, nor resist them with any resolution, 
nor cast them out.as he casts them in, nor 
quench the sparks which he endeavours to kin- 
dle ; but set in with him, and meet him half way, 
and embrace his motions, and» tempt him to 
tempt you. 

3. Your destruction is evidently owing to 
yourselves, in that you resist all who would 
help to save you. God would help and save 
you by his word, and you resist it; it is too 
strict for you. He would sanctify you by his 
Spirit, but you resist and quench it. If any 
man reprove you for your sin, you fly in his 
face ; if he tell you of your danger, you give 
him little thanks; but either bid him look to 
himself, or at best put him off with heartless 
thanks. 

4. Moreover, it is apparent that you are : self 
destroyers, in that you draw the matter of your 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 257 


stn and destruction even from the blessed God 
himself. You like not the contrivances of his 
wisdom: you like not his justice, but take it for 
cruelty : you like not his holiness, but are ready 
to think he is such a one as yourselves, Psa. i, 
21, and makes as light of sin as-you: you like 
not his truth, but would have his threatenings, 
even his peremptory threatenings, prove false. 
And his goodness, which you seem most highly 
to approve, you partly resist, as it would lead 
you to repentance ; and partly abuse, to the 
strengthening of your sin, as if you might the 
more freely sin, because God is merciful. 

5. Yea, you fetch destruction from the blessed 
Redeemer, and death from the Lord of life him- 
self. Nothing more emboldens you in sin, than 
that Christ has died for you ; as if now the dan- 
ger of death were over, and you might boldly 
venture: as if Christ were become a servant to 
Satan, and must wait upon you while you are 
abusing him. ‘And because he is become the 
Physician of souls, and is able to save to the 
uttermost all that come to God by him, you 
think he must sdve you whether you will come 
to God by him or not. . So that a great part of 
your sins are occasioned by your bold presump- 
tion upon the death of Christ. ~ 

6. He gives many blessings to you as the 
tokens of his love and furniture for his service, 
and you turn them against him-to the pleasing 
of your flesh. You eat and drink to please 
your appetite, and not for the glory of God. 
Your clothes you abuse to pride. Your riches 

17 


258 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


draw your hearts from heaven. Your honours 
and applause puff you up. If you have health 
and strength, it makes you moresecure. Yea, 
other men’s mercies are abused by you to your 
hurt. If you see their honours and dignity, 
you are provoked to envy them. If you see 
their riches, you are ready to covet them. If 
you look upon beauty, you are stirred up to lust. 

And it is well if epalinesy) be not an eye-sore to 
you. 

7. The very gifis which God bestows on you, 
and the ordinances of grace, you turn to sin. 
If you have better parts than others, you grow 
proud and self-conceited. You take the bare 
hearing of your duty for so good a work, as will 
excuse you from not obeying it. - Your prayers 
are turned into sin, because you regard iniquity 
in your hearxts, Psalm, Ixvi, 18, and depart not 
from iniquity when you call cn the name of the 
Lord. Your prayers are abominable, because 
you turn away your ear from hearing the law, 
Prov. xxviii, 9; and are more ready to offer the 
sacrifice of fools, (thinking you do God some 
special service,) iia to hear his word, and 
obey it, Eccles. vy, 1. 

And thus I might show. you in many- other 
cases, how you turn all that comes near you to 
your own destruction; so clear is it that the 
ungodly are self-destroyers, and that their per- 
dition is of themselves. 

Methinks, now, upon the consideration of 
what is said, and the review of your own ways, 
you should consider what you. have done, and 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 259 


be ashamed and deeply humbled. If you be 
not, I pray-you consider these following truths. 

1. ‘To be -your own destroyers, is to sin 
against the deepest principle in your natures, 
even the principle of self-preservation. Every 
thing naturally desires its own welfare or per- 
fection. And will you set yourselves to your 
own destruction? When you are commanded 
to love your neighbours as yourselves, it is sup- 
posed that you naturally love yourselves: but if 
you love yourneighbours better than yourselves, 
it seems you would have all the world damned. 

2. How extremely do you cross your own 
intentions? I know-you intend not your own 
damnation, even when you are procuring it ; 
you think you are but doing good to yourselves, 
by gratifying the desires of your flesh. But 
alas! it is as a draught of cold water in a burn- 
ing fever, which increases the disease. Ifindeed 
you would have pleasure, profit, or honour, seek 
them where they are to be found, not in the way 
to hell. 

3. What pity is it that you should do that 
against yourselves, which none else in earth or 
hell-can do. If all the world were combined 
against you, or all the devils in hell, they could 
not destroy you without yourselves... And will 
you do that against yourselves, which no one 
else can do? You have hateful thoughts of the 
devil, because he is your enemy, and endea- 
vours your destruction. And will you. be worse 
than devils to yourselves? But thus it is with 
you when you run into sin, and refuse to turn 


260 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


at the eall of God; you do more against your 
own souls, than men or devils could do beside. 
And if you should set yourselves to do your- 
selves the greatest mischief, you could not 
devise a greater. 

4. It will everlastingly make you your own 
tormentors in hell, to think that you brought 
yourselves wilfully to that misery. O what a 
griping thought it will be to think with your- 
selves, that this was your own doing! That 
you were warned of this day, and warned again, 
‘bat it would not do: that you wilfully sinned, 
and wilfully turned away from God: you had 
time as well as others, but you- abused it : you 
had teachers.as well as others, but you refused 
their instructions: you had holy examples, but 
you did not imitate them: you were offered 
Christ, and grace, and glory, as well as others, 
but you preferred your fleshly pleasure : you 
had a price in your hands, but you had not a 
heart to lay it out. Canit choose but torment 
you to think of this your folly ? O that your 
eyes were opened to see what you have done 
in the wilful wronging of your own souls! and 
that you better understood these words of God, 
Prov. vili, 33, 34, 35, 36, “ Hear instruction, 
and be wise, and refuse it not. . Blessed is the 
man that heareth me, watching daily at my 
gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For 
whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain 
the favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth 
against me, wrongeth his own soul: all they 
that hate me, love death.” 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 261 
CONCLUSION. 


Anp now I am come to the conclusion of 
this work, my heart is troubled to think how 
I shall leave you; lest, after this, the flesh 
should still deceive you, and the world and 
the devil should keep you asleep, and I should 
leave you as [ found you, till you awake in hell. 
Dear friends! Iam so loath you should lie in 
everlasting fire, that I once more ask you what 
you resolve on? Will you turn, or die? As far 
as you are gone in sin, do but now turn, and 
come to Christ, and your souls shall live. If it 
were your bodies which we had to deal with, 
we might know what to do for you. Though 
you would not consent, you might .be held or 
bound, while the medicine was poured down 
your throats, and hurtful things might be kept 
from you. But about your souls it cannot be 
so: we cannot convert you against your willis 
There is no carrying madmen to heaven in 
fetters. You may be condemned against your 
wills, Hecate you sinned with your wills; but 
you cannot be saved against your wills. "The 
wisdom of God has thought meet to lay man’s 
salvation or destruction exceeding much upou 
the choice of his own will: that no man shall 
go to heaven who chooses not the way to hea- 
ven; and. no man shall go to hell, but shall be 
forced to say, I have the thing I chose; my 
own will did bring me here. Now if I couid 
but get you to be willing, to be thoroughly and 
resolutely willing, the work were more than 


262 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


half done. And alas! must we lose our friends, 
and must they lose their God, their happiness, 
their souls, for want of this? Ido again beseech 
you, as if it were on my bended knees, that you 
would hearken to your, Redeemer, and turn, 
that you may live, All you that have lived in 
ignorance, carelessness, and presumption, to 
this day: all you that have been drowned in 
the cares of the world, and have no desire after 
God and eternal glory : all you that are enslaved 
to your fleshly desires, of meats and drinks, 
sports and lusts: and all you that know not 
the necessity of holiness, and never were ac- 
quainted with the sanctifying work of the Holy 
Ghost upon your souls; that never embraced 
your blessed Redeemer by a living faith, and 
with admiring and thankful apprehensions of 
his love, and that never felt a higher estimation 
of God and heaven, and a heartier love to them, 
than to the things below: I earnestly beseech 
you, not only for my sake, but for the Lord’s 
sake, and for your souls’ sake, that you go not 
one day longer in your present condition ; but 
look about you, and cry to God for converting 
grace that you may escape the plagues which 
are before you. Deny me any thing that ever 
I shall ask you for myself, if you will but grant 
me this. Nay, asever as you will do any thing 
at the request of the Lord that made you and 
‘redeemed you, deny him not this; for if you 
deny him this, he cares for nothing that you 
shall grant him. As ever you would have how 
hear your prayers, and grant your requets ; 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 263 


and bless you at the hour of death, and day of 
judgment, deny not his request now in the day 
of your prosperity. O believe it, death and 
judgment, and heaven and hell, are other mat- 
ters when you come near them, than they seem 
afar off. 

Well, I hope that some of you are by this 
time purposing to turn and live: and that you 
are ready to ask me, as the Jews did Peter, when 
they were pricked in their hearts, What shall 
we do? How may we come to be truly convert- 
ed? Weare willing if we did but know our 
duty. God forbid that we should choose de- 
struction, by refusing conversion, as hitherto we 
have done. | 

If these be the purposes of your hearts, I 
say of you as God did of a promising people, 
Deut. v, 28, 29, “ They have well said all that 
they have spoken. O that there were such a 
heart in them that they would fear me, and 
keep all my commandments always!” © Your 
purposes are good: O that there were but a 
heart in you to perform these purposes! And, 
in hope thereof, I shall gladly give you direction 
what to do; and that but briefly, that you may 
the easier remember it for your practice. 


DIRECTION I. 


Ir you would be converted and saved, labour 
to understand the necessity and nature of conver- 
sion. 

Consider what a lamentable condition you 
are in till your conversion, that you may see it 


264 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


is not a state to be rested in. You are under 
the guilt of all the sins that ever you commit- 
ted; and under the wrath of God, and the 
curse of his law; you are bound slaves to the 
devil, and daily employed in his work, against 
the Lord, yourselves, and others: you are spi- 
ritually dead, as being void of the holy life, and 
nature and image of the Lord. You are unfit 
for any holy worksand do nothing that is truly 
pleasing to God. Youare without any promise 
or assurance of his protection, and live in con- 
tinual danger of his justice, not knowing what 
hour you may be snatched away to hell; and 
most certain to be damned if you die in that 
condition. And nothing short of conversion 
can prevent it. Whatever amendments are 
short of true conversion, will never procure the 
saving of your souls. Keep the true sense of 
this natural misery, and of the necessity of con- 
version on our hearts. And then you must 
understand what it is to be converted: it is to 
have a new heart, or disposition, and a new 
conversation. 
Quest. For what must we turn? 
Ans. For these ends following, which you 
“may attain; you shall hereby be made living 
members of Christ, and have an interest in him, 
and be renewed after the image of God, quick- 
ened with a new and heavenly life, and saved 
from the tyranny of Satan, and the dominion of 
sin, and be justified from the curse of the law, 
and have the pardon of all the sins of your 
whole lives, and be accepted of God, and made 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 265 


his sons, and have liberty with boldness to call 
him Father, and go to him by prayer in all 
your wants, with a promise of acceptance : you 
shall have the Holy Ghost to dwell in you, to 
sanctify and guide you: you shall have part 
in the communion and prayers of the saints: 
you shall be fitted for God’s service ; and shall 
have the promise of this life, and that which is 
to come. 

And, at death, your souls shall go to Christ : 
and at the day of judgment both soul and body 
shall be justified, and enter into your Master’s 
joy: 

All this the poorest: beggar of you that is 
converted shall certainly and endlessly enjoy. 


DIRECTON II. 


Ir you will be converted and saved, be 
much in secret, serious consideration. Incon- 
siderateness undoes the world. Withdraw 
yourselves often into secrecy, and meditate 
on the end for which you were made: on 
the life you have lived, the time you have lost, 
the sins you have committed; on the love and 
sufferings and fulness of Christ ; on the danger 
you are in, or the nearness of death and judg- 
ment ; and on the certainty and excellency of 
the joys of heaven; and on the certainty and 
terror of the torments of hell, and eternity of 
both ; and on the necessity of conversion and 
a holy life. 


DIRECTION III. 
Ir.you will be converted and saved, attend 


266 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


upon the word of God, which is the ordinary 
means. Read the Scripture, or hear it read, 
and other holy writings, which do apply it, 
constantly : and attend on the public preaching 
of the word. As God will lighten the world by 
the sun, and not by himself alone without it ; so 
will he convert and save men by his ministers, 
who are the lights of the world. When he has 
miraculously humbled Paul, he sends Ananias 
to him, Acts ix, 10, and when he has sent an 
angel to Cornelius, itis but to bid himsend for 
Peter, who must tell him what he is to believe 
and do. 
DIRECTION IV. 


Brerake yourselves to God in a course of 
earnest, constant prayer. Confess and lament 
your former lives, and beg his grace to illumi- 
nate and convert you. Beseech him to pardon 
what is past, and to give you his Spirit, and 
change your hearts and lives; and lead you 
in his ways, and save you from temptation.— 
And ply this work daily, and be not weary 
of it. | 

DIRECTION V. 


PRESENTLY. give over your known and wil- 
ful sins. Make a stand, and go that way no 
farther. Be drunk no more; but avoid the 
place and occasion of it. Cast away your 
lusts and sinful pleasures with detestation.— 
Curse and swear and rail no more; and if you 
have wronged any, restore as Zaccheus did. 
If you will commit again your old sins, what 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 267 


blessing can you expect on the means for con- 
version ? 


DIRECTION VI. _ 


Presentty, if possible, change your com- 
pany. Not by forsaking your necessary rela- 
tions, but your unnecessary and sinful com- 
panions ; and join yourselves with those who 
fear the Lord. 


DIRECTION VII. 


Detiver up yourselves to the Lord Jesus, as 
the physician of your souls, that he may pardon 
you by his blood, and sanctify you by his Spirit, 
by his word and ministers, the instruments of 
his Spirit. He is the Way, the Truth, and 
the Life ; there is no coming to the Father but 
by him, John xiv, 6. Nor is there any other 
name under heaven, by which you can be saved, 
Acts iv, 12. Study therefore his person and 
nature, and what he has done and suffered 
for you, and what he is to you; and what he 
will be ; and how he is fitted to the full supply 
of all your necessities. 


DIRECTION VIII. 


Ir you mean, indeed, to turn and live, do it 
without delay. If you be not willing to turn 
to-day, you are not willing to do it at all._— 
Remember you are all this while in your blood ; 
under the guilt of many thousand sins, and 
under God’s wrath, and you stand at the very 
brink of hell; there is but a step between 
you and death. And this is not a case fora 


268 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


man to be quiet in. Up therefore presently, 
and fly for your lives; as you would be gone 
out of your house, if it were all on fire over your 
head. O if you did but know what danger you 
live in, and what daily, unspeakable loss you do 
sustain, and what a safer and sweeter life you 
might live, you would not stand trifling, but pre- 
sently turn. Multitudes miscarry who wilfully 
delay, when they are convinced that it must be 
done. Your lives are short and uncertain ; and 
what a case are you in if you die before you 
thoroughly turn! You have stayed too long 
already ; and wronged God too long: sin gets 
strength and rooting while you delay. Your 
conversion will grow more hard and doubtful. 
You have much to do, and therefore put not all 
off to the last, lest God forsake, you, and give 
you up to yourselves, and then you are undone 
for ever. 


DIRECTION IX. 


Ir you will turn and live, do it unreservedly, 
absolutely, and universally. Think not to ca- 
pitulate with Christ, and divide your heart be- 
tween him and the world; and to part with 
some sins, and keep the rest.. This is but self 
deluding ; you must forsake all you have, or 
else you cannot be his disciple, Luke xiv, 26, 
33. If you will not take God and heaven for 
your portion, and lay all below at the feet of 
Christ, but must needs also have your good 
things here, and have an earthly portion, and 
God and glory are not enough for you ; it is in 


A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 269 


vain to dream of salvation on these terms; for 
it will not be. If you seem ever so religious, if 
vet it be but outside righteousness, this is as cer- 
tain a way to death as open profaneness, though 
it be plausible. 


DIRECTION X. 


Ir you will turn and live, do it resolvedly, and 
stand not still deliberating, as it were a doubtful 
case. Stand not wavering, as if you were yet 
uncertain whether God or the flesh be the better 
master ; or whether heaven or hell be the better 
end; or whether sin or holiness be the better 
way. But away with your former lusts, and 
presently, habitually, fixedly resolve: be not 
one day of one mind, and the next of another, 
but be at a point with all the world, and resolv. 
edly give up yourselves, and all you have, to 
God. Now, while you are reading or hearing 
this, resolve. Before you sleep another night, 
resolve. Before you stir from this place, re- 
solve. Before Satan have time to take you off, 
resolve. You never will turn indeed, till you 
do resolve ; and that with a firm and unchange- 
able resolution. 

And now I have done my part in this work, 
that you may turn at the call of God and live. 
What will become of it, 1 cannot tell. I have 
cast the seed at God’s command : but it is not 
in my power to give the increase. I can gono 
farther with my message; I cannot bring it 
to your heart, or make it work: I cannot do 
your parts for you, to entertain it : I cannot do 


270 A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED. 


God’s part by opening your heart to cause you 
to entertain it; nor can I show you heaven or 
hell to your eyesight, nor give you new and 
tender hearts. 

But, O thou that art the gracious Father of 
spirits, thou hast sworn thou delightest not in the 
death of the wicked, but rather that they turn and 
live ; deny not thy blessing to these persuasions 
and directions, and suffer not their enemies to tri- 
umph in thy sight, and the great deceiver of souls 
to prevail against thy Son, thy Spirit, and thy 
word. O pity poor unconverted sinners, that 
have no heart to pity or help themselves: com- 
mand the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the 
dead to live, and let not sin and death be able to 
resist thee. Awake. the secure; resolve the un- 
resolved ; confirm the wavering ; and let the eyes 
of sinners that read these lines, be next employed 
in weeping over their sins; and bring them to 
themselves and to thy Son, before their sin have 
brought them to perdition. If thou say but the 
word, these poor endeavours shall prosper to the 
winning of many a soul to their everlasting joy, 
and their everlasting glory. Amen. 


BOOKS PUBLISHED BY LANE & SCOTT. 


MEMOIRS OF THE WESLEY FAMILY: 


COMPRISING BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE ANCESTORS AND 
NEAR RELATIVES OF JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY. 


BY ADAM CLARKE, LL. D. 


A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED 
12mo. Pages 659. 85 cents. 


This edition contains nearly one third more matter than 
the original edition published by Dr. Clarke. 


This is one of the most interesting biographical works in our list. 
If is not superseded by any of the individual memoirs of the 
Wesleys extant; and we have not another. Methodist book that 
we can more heartily commend to the patronage of Methodist 
families. It is replete with attractive incidents and fine delinea- 
tions of character. If you are a Methodist parent, procure it; it 
will do yourself and your children good.—Zion’s Herald. 

This is a second edition of a work which will always find nu- 
merous and delighted readers among that extensive body known 
on both sides of the Atlantic as the Methodist Church. Nor will 
its perusal be confined to that denomination, inasmuch as it is a 
complete biography of the family connections of one of the great- 
est men of any age, the effects of whose piety, genius, and toil 
are constantly extending in the world. ‘This edition is consider- 
ably enlarged, and is printed in a pleasantly legible type, and on 
good paper.— New-York Commercial. Advertiser 

We know very few books which contain so much that is good 
in the same compass, and so much which is adapted to all variety 
of capacities and tastes, as do these ‘‘ Memoirs of the Wesley 
Family.”—Christian Advocate and Journal. 

The publishers have exercised much good taste in bringing out 
the present work, which is one of the most vaiuable that has 
been issued from the Methodist Book Room for a considerable 
length of time; and one that no Methodist library should be con- 
sidered complete without.—Christian Repository. 





BOOKS PUBLISHED BY LANE & SCOTT 

































The Pilgrim’s Progress 


FROM THIS WORLD TO THAT WHICH IS TO COME. 


By John Bunvan. 
With an Introduction, Index, Notes, etc. 
BY S. B. WICKENS. 
EMBELLISHED WITH A PORTRAIT AND OTHER ENGRAVINGS. 
Large 18mo. Pages 478. Price Fifty cents. 


A household book wherever the English language is known. 
One of the wonders of genius; a book which charms the child 
before he can comprehend its meaning, which delights and in- 
structs the experienced Christian ; and which, in despite of its 
subject, excites the admiration of the man of letters. To have 
such a book, with its thousand healthful and refining influences, 
placed in any family, is a lasting good.— Biblical Repertory. 

Yet another edition, and one that will doubtless meet with a 
very cordial reception. The Introduction is a judicious, critical, 
and historical account of this great work, giving new facts and 
views on the subject, which will greatly interest the admirers of 
the allegory. The Notes are eminently practical and instructive. 
We have seen no edition to which we would more willingly accord 
the title of a “standard edition.”—New- York Spectator. 

An excellent edition of this religious classic, and well adapted for 
younger readers as well as for adults. Bunyan’s Progress shou'd - 
be by the side of the Bible in every Christian family : put it especially 
into the hands of your children; it will fascinate them from danger- 
ous books, and lead them in the way to heaven.—Zion’s Herald. 


This is a book for everybody, as our readers well know. But 
there is much choice in the editions. Lane and Tippett have just 
published one, which we think decidedly the best we ever saw: 
It is on good paper, with good print ; has a splendid likeness of 
Bunyan, a number of appropriate cuts, and an interesting biogra- 
phy of the author. It also contains an index, and has a good 
selection of interesting notes, chiefly from the writings of Bunyan 
himself.— Guide to Holiness 


























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